Train Going 106 MPH Before Engineer Hit Brakes; Amtrak Employees: Brandon Bostian Was Engineer.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. We now know the Amtrak train, the derail outside Philadelphia was speeding at 106 miles an hour when it crashed. We're also tonight learning the identity of the train engineer. We'll going to tell you everything we are learning about him at this moment. That engineer refusing to talk to detectives. Philadelphia's mayor says there's no excuse for his actions. Will he face criminal charges? And Kim Jong-un executes his own defense minister before a crowd using anti-aircraft guns. What is happening in North Korea? Let's go OUTFRONT. Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight we begin with the breaking news. The Amtrak train that derailed near Philadelphia was speeding big-time. Traveling 106 miles an hour at the time of the crash. More than twice the 50-mile-an-hour speed limit. We are also just learning at this moment the engineer's name from three Amtrak employees. And here's what we can tell you. His name is Brandon Bostian. Our Drew Griffin is going to have much more on him, he is the man at the center of this in just a moment. The mayor of Philadelphia on CNN calling that engineer reckless, saying, "there's no excuse for the out-of-control speed." We also now know though that Bostian did apply the emergency brakes just before the crash but he only slowed the train down to 102 miles an hour at impact. So, 106 to 102, and then it crashed. You can see the curve where the train derailed. As you can see, it is very sharp. The horrific crash killing at least seven people. More than 200 injured, many of them still in critical condition at this hour. And it is almost 24 hours after this crash but there are still people missing. People hoping that their loved ones will be the miracle story tonight. This surveillance video shows the speeding train at the moment of the crash.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Are you okay? He's calling, okay?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Crawl forward, sir. Keep crawling.</s>BURNETT: Passengers, many of them with broken bones and serious head injuries, were scrambling desperately to escape. Drew Griffin is OUTFRONT in Philadelphia tonight. He begins our coverage. And Drew, the man at the center of this is that engineer. You have now learned his name, you have learned something very, very crucial.</s>DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brandon Bostian, he is from Queens, New York. We do know that the police here in Philadelphia tried to speak with him, tried to talk with him, tried to question him. He refused, he has an attorney. The NTSB was a little more mild on that point. They said that they can talk to him once the emotions of this event turn over. But we do know Erin that according to his LinkedIn account he's been an engineer with Amtrak four little more than years. Before that he was a conductor with Amtrak. Described, you know, just a generic description from some of his neighbors, but he, because he was driving this train, is now the focus of this investigation.</s>BURNETT: We have a picture of him that you were able to obtain, Drew. Obviously, this is him outside of his work uniform. But that is Brandon Bostian everyone that you're looking at next to me, the engineer who should have been in control and charge of the speed of the train at the time of impact. Drew as you mentioned though when he was called in for questioning by police today, it didn't seem that he was cooperating?</s>GRIFFIN: Yes, he wasn't cooperating. That's according to the Philadelphia police. They brought him into the detectives division. He refused to answer their questions. He did have an attorney with him. And, you know, that got a very strong reaction from the mayor of this town who squarely wants at least the engineer of this train who caused all this to answer the questions.</s>MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Clearly he was reckless and irresponsible in his actions. I don't know what was going on with him. I don't know what was going on in the cab. But there's really no excuse that could be offered.</s>GRIFFIN: They need to talk to him for many reasons. There may be an excuse, there might have been a mechanical issue that he was dealing with, we don't know right now although all indications are speed was the problem. Erin, they'll also be looking at what was in his physical body, in his system, whether he was on the phone, was he asleep, along with all the other things they're going to be looking at, including track conditions and anything on the track that might have happened. But again, it was that speed, 106 miles an hour into an area where he should have only been going 50. It seems the engineer is the one person who can answer the question as to why, and right now, he's not answering anything -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Drew Griffin. Well, we have new details on the investigation right now. And Jason Carroll is also OUTFRONT from Philadelphia with a look at exactly how this happened. What happened, when it happened, and what investigators are looking at right now?</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mangled wreckage of the Amtrak Train 188 still strewn on the tracks. The event date recorder recovered from the train's first car has already revealed the train was traveling at least twice as fast as it should have been. One hundred six miles per hour as it entered the corner where it derailed late Tuesday.</s>ROBERT SUMWALT, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Just moments before the derailment, the train was placed into engineer- induced braking. And this means that the engineer applied full emergency brake application. The train was traveling at approximately 106 miles per hour. Three seconds later, when the data to the recorders terminated, the train speed was 102 miles per hour.</s>CARROLL: The train, scheduled to leave Philadelphia's union station at 9:10 Tuesday night, derailed about 10 minutes later at 9:21. Passengers say it felt like the train was going too fast as it headed into a left-hand turn, then chaos.</s>JOAN ELFMAN, SURVIVED AMTRAK TRAIN CRASH: They were thrown out of their seats. One girl slammed into, you know, one of the seats. There are a lot of fractures. You know, arms, shoulders, all kinds of fractures.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I could see the blood on people's faces. They can't move. Their knees were out. So I just tried to do my best to help people get out of that car because it was smoking.</s>CARROLL: Surveillance video shows a flash the moment of the crash. Mary Row lives near the site and initially thought the bright light was lightning.</s>UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: My entire room lit up. It was that bright. Took the dog and myself and got out of the house.</s>CARROLL: Many questions about the train's speed as it headed into that curve. An area called the Frankford junction. (on camera): Locals call the Frankford junction a notorious curve out here on the rails. The speed limit in this area just 50 miles per hour. At least seven people killed in the crash, including U.S. Naval Academy midshipman Justin Zemser, and Gym Gains, an Associated Press video software architect, he was 48. Hospitals treated more than 200 people, many of them hurt when other people or objects fell on top of them.</s>ELFMAN: This huge red suitcase just came flying at me. Our train was actually on its side. So it pushed me onto the side of the train. It hit my chest. I think I have a few fractured ribs.</s>CARROLL: And Erin, right now you're looking at a live picture of the crash. You can see one of the cars still on its side. Investigators will be looking at everything from the track to signals to of course operator error. At least two people among those listed as missing. Mark Gildersleeve, a businessman from Baltimore, he has a 13-year-old son. And then there's also Rachel Jacobs. She is the CEO of a small tech company. She has a two-year-old. Their families desperately hoping that they will be found alive -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Jason, thank you very much. And OUTFRONT now, Andrew Brenner, he was on board that Amtrak train, Train 188, when it derailed. He was sitting in the last car. And Andrew, I know just you know, hearing all this, having to relive what just happened to you not even 24 hours ago, I know you are injured. How are you doing tonight?</s>ANDREW BRENNER, SURVIVED AMTRAK TRAIN CRASH: Well, you're right, I am a little banged up. But I'm extremely grateful that I'm sitting here with you this evening. It was a very terrifying, terrifying experience. And to think that 24 hours ago I was literally across the street, ready to get on this exact train at union station, and to think back over this last 24 hours, is really just incredible and sad for a number of reasons.</s>BURNETT: How your life can change so quickly. I know, you know, you've hurt your vertebrae, you've hurt your back. But of course obviously others did lose their lives. I understand why you're grateful. Now, I know you just hear Andrew, the mayor of Philadelphia called the engineer in charge of the train reckless, he says nothing excuses this tragedy, he said maybe if he had a heart attack but they know he didn't have a heart attack. When you hear the train was going a 106 miles an hour and the speed limit was 50 miles an hour where you were on that curve, how do you feel?</s>BRENNER: The news that I've heard today about the speed and the lack of safety controls that could have been enforced at that section of the railway is nothing short of infuriating. The fact that this was preventable, that seven people who waited in the same exact line that I did yesterday at Union Station in Washington, D.C. lost their lives, that 200 people, myself included, spent the better part of last night in the hospital with injuries that were preventable. And that, you know, this is a tragedy that will likely cost, you know, untold amounts of money that could have been prevented so many different ways. Is just enraging.</s>BURNETT: Enraging and infuriating. I mean, of course you feel that way. I mean, could you tell, Andrew, at the time that that train was moving too quickly? Was there anything that seemed unusual to you? I know you've taken this train many times. Was there anything that seemed off or did it just happen?</s>BRENNER: It really happened so, so quickly. You know, I couldn't tell the difference between going 70 miles an hour or 120 miles an hour on an Amtrak car. But you could tell from where I was that, you know, we took that curve really quickly. And there was some force there. And there was a bump. There was some vibration. And then an immediate jolt. And I flew across the rail car. There were luggage and seats that came unhinged that were flying around. But at the end of the day the car that I was in, most people, even though they were pretty banged up, were okay. There was a lot of really, really good people on the train last night and an incredible amount of help that I think made the situation a lot better than it could have been.</s>BURNETT: Well, Andrew, I know that you feel lucky and blessed to be where you are and to be alive and back in Washington with your girlfriend and we're glad that you are doing okay. Thank you so much for sharing your story.</s>BRENNER: Thank you.</s>BURNETT: OUTFRONT next, we'll break down how the Amtrak train derailed, how it crashed. This is going to be a second-by-second analysis to try to understand what went so horribly wrong. Plus, almost 24 hours after the crash, people who were thought to be on the train are still missing. Still missing. They don't know where they are. Is there any hope that some of these people could be alive right now? And train wrecks and derailments in America are on the rise. It has become much more dangerous. Why?