The investigation into what caused that fatal Amtrak crash intensifies today. There’s an NTSB news conference. 7 people died and 200 were injured when the train derailed. Investigators say the train was travelling more than 100 mph around a curve when the train was supposed to be travelling less than half that speed. The driver apparently saying he doesn’t remember the crash. His blood has been taken to test for illegal drugs and alcohol. We’ve got Fox team coverage, and we’ll ask John Hiatt – a railroad investigator – how the accident happened and about the aging U.S. train infrastructure.
A move in Congress to cut Amtrak funding continues today. Democrats are up in arms over the cuts, but so far Republicans are unmoved by complaints. There are also growing calls to privatize the nation’s passenger train services.
New Fox polling out on the likely 2016 presidential field. In the new polling, Hillary Clinton’s favorability ratings have dropped as coverage of the email controversy and the Clinton Foundation controversy has dogged her campaign so far. Still, her numbers remain rock solid among Democrats and she fares well in head to head matchups against all of the GOP candidates.
Jeb Bush performs best among the GOP field. Still, his unfavorable ratings (as well as those of Chris Christie) are high.
Jeb Bush has had a tough week. He’s been repeatedly asked about the Iraq war after he seemed to say to Megyn Kelly Monday night that he would have gone to war with Iraq in 2003 even knowing what we know now. He’s backtracked from that a bit, but it’s thrown him off message all week.
Several likely Republican presidential candidates are holding events today. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, and Rick Santorum all have appearances.
The growing GOP field is giving the RNC headaches about what to do about debates.. Potentially more than 20 on a debate stage not really practical.
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton expected to announce whether or not he will run for the White House in a conference call at Noon today. He’s been a regular critic of White House foreign policy that’s he’s called soft on terror.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley set to announce his bid for the White House on May 30th. He would be the second challenger to Hillary Clinton after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Hillary Clinton will be in Iowa Monday and Tuesday.. her 2nd trip as an official candidate.
President Obama set to defend his Iran nuke deal plans today at Camp David. He’s hosting dignitaries from the Middle East and Secretary of State John Kerry and is trying to convince Arab allies that despite the Iran deal, the U.S. still has their backs.
There’s a 12:30 press briefing that includes strategic communications chief Ben Rhodes along with Josh Earnest that we’ll monitor for news.
We could get news on the Boston Bombing today. A jury is deciding whether Dzhokar Tsarnaev will get life in prison or the death penalty for his role in the terror attack on the Boston Marathon.
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