House and the senate. We know that the leaders in the house, speaker paul ryan, the leader were on the train. They are okay. But the tragic news today that theres one american confirmed dead. Somebody who was traveling on the truck that the train hit. And we also know that there was one person who was critically injured and taken to an area hospital who was also traveling in the truck. We also know now that congressman jason lewis of minnesota was transported to a hospital. We have a photo of him with his neck in a brace being treated by medical percesonnel. We dont know at this point the extent of his injuries. We heard from an aid previously there was one member of congress who was hurt who was standing up when this accident occurred. Everybody who was on the train felt a jolt, especially those traveling near the front of the train. There were laptops, cell phones went fly iing. As you point out, many members had their spouses, children,
guard. Then also should have had gates. We cant speak to whether they were operating, but it was one of those locations that should have been. E equipped with that. So the ntsb and federal Railroad Administration and amtrak will be looking at how did this happen. Always keeping in. Mind the train always has the right of way. And a train can take up to a mile and a half to stop. Thats an estimate of how fast it was going. So they are going to pull this train back probably back to charlottesville. Were told members of congress will be boarding buss to go on to their retreat destination. Investigators will be looking at why was this trash truck on the tracks. Was it stuck . Did the driver try to beat the train . The numbers are staggering. Every year about 270 motorists are killed in chigss with trains. And 3400 people are killed us l
usually because they are on the tracks too close to the tracks. So this is almost a daily occurrence. Somebody is killed in a collision with the train. As we said a collision involving a Motor Vehicle occurs at least once and usually several times a week. It is always the trains right of way. The numbers are absolutely astonishing. I as we look at the numbers the first, second, third reason why that usually occurs . Is it usually mechanical . Is it usually because people are where they are not supposed to be . Do you know . Its almost always, by the way, the train being pulled back so their priority is to clear this scene quickly. Once they have gathered the evidence they have to reopen the tracks. Its not just passengers that rely on those train tracks. Its also a freight rail. As to why this happened, people just try to beat the train. We see it time and time and time again. And very often if not most often they are in these rural settings where somebody thinks they can goose the pickup truck, if you will, and get across before the train. They just miscalculate because the big looming train is traveling a heck of a lot faster than it would appear if youre just sitting still or trying to beat it across railroad tracks. Its absolutely a tragedy. Look now on the left. Thats one of the crossing arms that you saw down. So how did that trash truck get stuck on the track, trying to beat the train. Tom, thank you for that. Joining me on the phone is congressman Michael Burgess of texas, who was on the train. Hes a doctor. He jumped in to administer aid
the Garbage Trucks that spilled over the railroad right away. It was pretty obvious this was a vehicle accident. How are you . Theres a young man thats not going to go home to his family tonight. Thats always pretty tough. Congressman, i know you have business to attend to. Youre all going to try to make your way to this conference. I dont know we know that. The train is not under its own power. Were being towed to a larger town. At this point, i cant confirm i know what the plans are from this point forward. Do you think they want to go
ahead and go on with the conference . Honestly, im conflicted right now. Theres a large part of me that says go be with your family. At the same time, theres business to attend to. This is something we do every year. Its an opportunity for the house and senate to be present out of the pressure of washington, d. C. And have a chance to communicate with each other on a face to face basis. Hopefully off the record. The democracy will do a similar exercise next week. There are a couple things that struck me when this happened. One is that there are people on board that train. We have talked about this on the air. Who went through the shooting at the Baseball Practice where Steve Scalise sofs seriously
injured. So two brushes potentially with death. There were children on the train as well. Yes, many of the members have their family and spouses on the train. We are glad you are okay. And we will wait for a final decision on exactly what is going to happen at the retreat. Understanding that people are very shaken u up. This was a close call and i assume you feel, as i heard one other member of congress say, that hes grateful that it could have been a lot worse. Congressman, thank you for your time. Wee appreciate it after what has
been a harrowing experience. Were all those people were going is West Virginia to what they do every year when they have this retreat. Garrett haake got there earlier. He has been standing by there. You just heard what the congressman had to say. Others probably have members of their family who just want them to come home. What are you hearing from where you are and whats the latest . The idea of being cob flikted makes a lot of sense. Especially when you remember theres a will the of overlap between folks at that baseball field last summer. And folks on this train and involved in this. And the idea of proceeding with a working vacation, which is essentially what this event is. It could be something that doesnt sit right with a lot of members. But the plan remains to go forward with this conference. Its supposed to get start ed i earnest later this Vice President dinner. Yes shs the Vice President plans to comp. He tweeted a little while ago he would be attending this Afternoon Event that he was supposed to have in West Virginia today thats separate in from this conference. Its supposed to be his lead in to his arrival today. Theres no discussion that ive been made aware of and ive been reaching out to sources throughout the afternoon to see if theres that high level discussion yet about potentially walking this back, canceling a day, cancelling this event. So far, it seems like Everyone Wants to go forward. And i can tell you the congre Congressional Institute, which is the Nonpartisan Organization that sponsor this is retreat has said from their side of things, they still do intend to go forward when the train backs up to charlottes vilville, there w be buss waiting to bring the members presumably the members who still want to come back down here to West Virginia for this conference with their families
and their children and staffs. If thats what people still want to do. Wh that train stops in charlottesville. You describe this as a working vacation. Whats on the agenda as far as we know it . Sure, the Working Agenda is a number of seminars, Breakout Sessions like you might see at any kind of corporate conference. They are talking about infrastructure with the transportation secretary. Theres going to be a session with Polling Group to talk about how republicans can best go sell the Tax Reform Plan that they passed last year. When they go pack out to the midterms. A will the of this is forward looking in that way. Its more party specific than the work they can do on the hill about elections. And about looking ahead to november. So theres a lot of those types of conversations and those types of working meetings and things like that that happen throughout the kourls of these days. Tomorrow theres supposed to be a big lunch with the president who is schedule d to be on the
ground here for about two hours. So its an opportunity for members who might not be the types of folks who get invited to the white house every day or every week to get some face time with the the leadership of their parties as well. And for the house and senate, members who dont know each other to Work Together and to try to cross pollinate ideas, if you will, on some of the policy things they want to try to get done in this congressional session. Garrett, thank you. I know youll keep us posted as you hear more. Buddy carter of dpa was on that train as well. He joins us on the phone. How are you doing, congressman . Im doing fine. My wife and i u are fine. As you can imagine, its a harrowing experience. We were traveling along at what appeared to be a normal rate of speed. All of a sudden there was a big jolt. We were in the second to last car and we realized that as the
train came to a stop, we stopped just about at the point where the truck had been essentially cut in half. The cab was separated from the back part of the truck. There was trash everywhere. Then we realized what had happened. It sournds horrific, as im sure it was. Were people calm. Was there panic on the train . Describe the scene after the impact. I think there was a lot of confusion. What just happened. As i mentioned earlier, wh we were at somewhat is of an advantage that we could see that obviously we hit something and realized what had happened then. I suspect a lot of people at front of the trab may not have realized that. But it was a very strong jolt
and it did im sure there was some bumps and bruises. I heard one member was taken to the hospital with a concussion. Theres some we obviously are having some trouble with the cell phone, but thank you, congressman. We are glad you are okay. I was just handed some Additional Information from the uva health system. This is outside of charlottesville. And they say at this time of train crashed, three patients have been transported to the uva medical center. Two additional patients are on their way there. One patient is in critical condition. The remaining patients are still being e evaluated. Kelly odonnell is is at the white house for us. Reporter we can tell you that the president and House Speaker paul ryan have now connected by phone. You would anticipate this sort of a call in the aftermath of this kind of a situation where theres an ongoing crisis but also a need for the connection to the white house. So that phone call has now taken place. The Vice President plans to go to West Virginia as scheduled. We are not clear on how is and to what degree there would be changes to the course of events planned. But theres this link now between the white house and the scene. And any time were talking about the Vice President , its important to remember he was a member of the house for many years and has long ties there. So much of his time in office as the Vice President has been doing the sort of liaison between the administration and congress when there have been
critical votes. Some that have gone for the administration, and some that have not. Theres a real relationship there. One of the things i also wanted to note for our viewers who may not realize that each chamber of congress has its own chaplain. The house chaplain is is a priest who was on this train as well. And i understand from members he was administering prayers and concern to those who were injured. You dont often have a member of the clergy right there at that tragic moment. Because he is the chaplain of the house, a Fulltime Position appointed by the speaker, he was present. That is something that can provide First Responders who contend to the physical wounds. There are spiritual and emotional components to a situation like this. So i think thats an interesting part of this story involving lawmakers and their families traveling to this conference. So from the white house, we expect that there will be an opportunity to hear from the president today on his planned schedule as you have been talking about. He was intending to go to West Virginia tomorrow to address the group. We dont have any indication theres a change to that schedule, but its so soon after these events, they may have to e evaluate what the next best steps should be. But this is one of those situations where theres an emotional jolt to the lawmakers tlp. Theres the loss of life. We dont have the specifics on those who have been seriously injured, but this certainly is an upsetting circumstance to everyone involved. Then to go and get back to business, theres a push and pull between wanting to do work with serious dead lines that the congress is facing, the white house is facing and at the same time being in the moment of the severity of what has happened here. Thank you for that. We should also say as far as that emotional jolt, we saw very real signs last night at the
state of the union of the partisanship of capitol hill of the divide on issues and so on. When Something Like this happens on capitol hill, there are a lot of people across the aisle who have known each other for years, if not decades. This is something thats going to resinate throughout the halls of congress among congress members, staff, Family Members who though each other. So were going to keep our eye and keep you updated on that. Were going to take a quick break. The other Breaking News on the republican memo and what the fbi had to say in a rare statement. If youre 65 or older, you may be at increased risk for Pneumococcal Pneumonia that can take you out of the game for weeks, even if youre healthy. Pneumococcal pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that in severe cases can lead to hospitalization. It may hit quickly, without warning, causing you to miss out on the things you enjoy most. Prevnar 13® is not a treatment for Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Its a vaccine you can get to help protect against it. Prevnar 13® is approved for adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause Pneumococcal Pneumonia. You should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. If you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. The most common side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. Help protect yourself against Pneumococcal Pneumonia. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13®. Two,that was awful. Why are you so good at this . Had a coach in high school. Really helped me up my game. I had a coach. Math. Ooh. So, Why Dont Traders have coaches . Who says they dont . Coach mcadoo you know, at td ameritrade, we offer free access to coaches and a full education curriculum just to help you improve your skills. Boom thats lesson one. Education to take your trading to the next level. Only with td ameritrade. And sometimes, i dont eat the way i should. So, i drink boost. Boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 Essential Vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. Boost high protein be up for it
you know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Well keep you posted on the Train Accident that has sent people to the hospital and were still waiting for official word about whats going to happen at the republican retreat. But theres other Breaking News now on that classified republican memo alleging abuses by the fbi and Justice Department. Lets go right to justice correspondent Pete Williams pr the latest. We got a statement from the fbi. What did they have to say. Two points basically. They say this shouldnt come out because its classified and second ly, it shouldnt come ou because its wrong. What the fbi says it has solemn obligations to the fisa court is what this memo involves. An application for permission to monitor the communications of an american citizen who was connected to the Trump Campaign and according to those who are
familiar with the memo, the allegation may have been he was communicating with the russians. But. The fbi says number one, this this is stuff shouldnt come out. But then they say the fbi was provided a limited opportunity to review the memo the day before the House Intelligence Committee voted to release it. As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memos accuracy. So thats the second part. Where they think the memo is wrong. The first part of the statement that this sort of thing is classified and shouldnt come out. The fbi has obligations to the Fi Is Sa Court not to reveal these classified matters. Its an interesting statement, i think, because it hasnt been released yet. We were told earlier today by Justice Depar