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Susan Sarandon Helps Raise Awareness of Nepal Need; Deadly Heat Wave in India Will Continue; Mass Graves Exhumed in Secret Trafficking Camp in Malaysia; Daughters Say B.B. King Was Murdered. Aired 1:30-2a ET

Aired May 26, 2015 - 01:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[01:30:08] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Powerful storms have killed 31 people in the southern U.S. and northern Mexico. Several others are missing. Huge amounts of rain have caused flash flooding which has damaged thousands of homes. The storm system is expected to bring more rain throughout the week.

Iraqi forces and Shia militias are staging major offenses against ISIS in two key provinces. Prime Minister Hada al Abadi said on Iraqi TV the liberation of Anbar is imminent. Shia militias say they are working to cut ISIS supply routes.

Afghanistan's government says all four militants who attacked an upscale neighborhood overnight have been killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The group says the gunmen were targeting a hotel owned by the son's Afghanistan's former president. The government says no civilians or security forces were killed.

It has been one month since a deadly earthquake devastated Nepal and the nation is still struggling to come to terms with the impact of the loss. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck in late April, killing more than 8,000 people leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. In 2012, "CNN Hero" Pushpa Basnet runs a home for children whose parents are in prison. She was months away from opening a permanent center for the children when the quake hit, and the building was badly damaged by the tremors. A few years ago, American Actress Susan Sarandon was so compelled by Basnet's story, she became a producer of a documentary about her work. Now Sarandon is in Nepal helping raise awareness about the recovering nation.

Both Susan Sarandon and Pushpa Basnet join me now from Kathmandu.

Susan, I'll start with you.

What have you seen over the past few days? What has had the biggest impact on you?

SUSAN SARANDON, ACTRESS: In the general sense, watching the news in the United States, I expected there to be nothing standing and nothing going on, but now I think people have responded very well. It's very heartbreaking when you see people that have to not take their houses apart because they're unsafe. So what looks like something that's safe now has to be taken apart brick by brick, which is what happened to the new home that we were building here. It was almost finished and now it's all -- the structure is up, but everything has to be taken apart. And so I think that's -- you know, you see the spirit of people that they're surviving and I think after the monsoons and by the fall tourism can come back. And I think they're ready for that. And I've been going around, there's still some very lovely places that are open and a lot of historical monuments, you know? But we had a -- a lot of film that looked like just everything was leveled and there is a lot of destruction and it's very sad. But there's a spirit now of everyone rebuilding. And so we're trying to start at square one again and get some fund to go take our "CNN Hero." Maybe you could help her, actually, CNN.

VAUSE: Maybe we can. I want to ask Pushpa that because the film which was made about her work was essentially, apart from being a great documentary, it was a good fund-raiser, and the money from that film was being used to build that permanent housing for those kids. How much damage has been done and how long do I think it will take for you and do you have any plans to recover?

PUSHPA BASNET, CNN HERO: I think, like, whatever, like, money I got from CNN and whatever money was freezed, we were making the home, I think most -- were damaged because all the walls were up. Because we have four different buildings. So three buildings got damage. So, like, we have to start again. So we have to raise more money to start again because we have to make the structures and everything. Because it's on top of a hill as well as to be safe for the kids. And most probably by next year we would like to do opening because it was a dream project and it was a big project for these kids because they haven't gone to the place. And so I'm very saddened to see the home, like -- you know, we have to rebuild. But I'm really happy that my kids are safe. That's most important. I think I can't rebuild a life, but I can rebuild that home.

SARANDON: The fact that it went down without anybody in it. And the contractor has been wonderful. He's volunteering to do everything at cost and there's a very beautiful spirit about the rebuilding of the home. And if anybody wants to help, where do they go to? They go to gofundme.com/Pushpanepal. So anybody that's listening on your fabulous channel will know how to help her.

[01:34:42] VAUSE: Gofundme.com/Pushpanepal.

Now, Pushpa, for you, how heartbreaking was it to get so close to having this building ready to go and how are the kids coping right now? Where are they staying?

BASNET: Yes, it was really heartbreaking to see, you know? Because now we are staying in a field where I can see my home. Now we are living where I can see the new home, which is under construction. It is really sad but, you know, I tried my best and I give my 100 percent best. But it's out of my hand. It's all because of the nature and everything. But to see my kids, you know, we told them that the house have gone down and everything. The structure is still standing. Still we have hope and we have prayed that, you know, we will rebuild and things will turn out to be beautiful. Some ways, yes, it's heart broken, but it's out of my hand. I never have the time to stand back and cry, you know, because things are just -- wonderful years for me, ten years of experience. But negative took a second to calm down. So I have hope that I can stand again.

SARANDON: What we have to do now is the kids -- you know, the monsoons are coming so there's a lot of pressure to try to find a place that will be dry and can take care of them in the rented place. But, you know, the rent is up there, too. So there's an in between state that's going to be difficult, but they're all in really good spirits and they've been staying out and playing soccer and doing all the things that kids do and -- and they love each other and they take care of each other and they love Pushpa. So they're -- considering the trauma that they've been through, I think they're in really good spirits. We were nervous because the pictures, when we called right away to see them under plastic and so many people are just trying to sustain themselves in tents and under plastic. But when the monsoons come, of course, it will be -- if you've ever tried to camp for months and months and months in a monsoon, then you understand.

VAUSE: And the monsoons are only a couple weeks away. They're in for some tough times ahead.

SARANDON: Yeah.

VAUSE: Susan Sarandon and Pushpa Basnet, we appreciate you being with us.

And gofundme is where people can give them some money. We'll put that up on our website, as well. We appreciate that.

SARANDON: Thank you so much for the help. We appreciate that.

VAUSE: Thank you so much. Best of luck.

We'll take a short break here. But when we come back, the heat wave in India has claimed more than a thousand lives. We'll have the latest on the soaring temperatures, just ahead.

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[01:40:21] VAUSE: If you're just joining us, this is our breaking news. The U.S. Justice Department is set to announce corruption charges against up to 14 officials of world football's governing authority. Some of the FIFA officials are being arrested overnight in Zurich and elsewhere around the world. The gathering in the Swiss city for an election that could give Sepp Blatter his fifth term as leader. The charges are a result of a three-year long FBI investigation.

Iran's trial of a "Washington Post" reporter on espionage charges began Tuesday behind closed doors. Jason Rezaian was detained 10 months ago. The U.S. government and "The Post" post call the charges absurd. The proceedings ended after about two hours, and the next trial, date unknown. The case comes at a delicate time as Washington and five other Western powers try to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

Charter Communications has proposed a three-way merger with fellow cable and broadband providers Time Warner Cable and Brighthouse Networks. If U.S. regulators approve the deal, Charter will have nearly 19 million broadband subscribers, only three million fewer subscribers that Comcast. The deal values Time Warner Cable at about $79 billion. Charter promises faster broadband and improved TV interface and wider public availability of Wi-Fi.

More now on the deadly heat wave in India. This weather pattern may stay around longer than we thought.

And Pedram Javahari joins us more with more on this.

We thought it was going to end in the next couple of days, but you're saying it could be longer than that.

PEDRAM JAVAHARI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think so, yeah. The monsoons look like they're trying about three to five days behind. That simply brings cooler regions over this programmed of the world. We peak with temperatures into the mid 40s Celsius. Mow the numbers have gone from 600 over the past 24 hours to 1100 and then you see the Chicago heat wave of 1995 in there, as well. But here is Mother Nature's air- conditioning right here. This is the current position of the monsoonal moisture. Two days ago we should have been at this point and beyond that, the 1st of June, we would get to the southern portion of India. But the extreme heat taking place right here across the central and eastern corner of India where temperatures are at their hottest. That's where the majority of the fatalities are occurring.

Look at the temperatures in the heat index the next 24 hours. That is about 122 or so Fahrenheit. Remarkable temps. Very, very dangerous and it looks like this is going to continue for a couple of days across this region. It doesn't show much relief. 42, the average 47. Beyond that, you need the monsoonal rains to cool things off.

That is certainly what they've been seeing across the U.S. state of Texas where a major drought was in place years ago. Now you see scenes out of Houston, Texas, Harris County, the third-largest county in the United States, taking on a tremendous amounts of water. Look at the radar, showing you the established rainfall over the past several days, pinning the pictures of upwards of over 300 me the millimeters. This amount of rainfall in that amount of time is something you would see on the other of once every 25 to once every 50 years depending on the location. That makes this so much more impressive.

You look at the forecast the next coming couple of days, another few inches of rainfall, especially around Houston. Portions of Oklahoma getting in on about 100-plus millimeters or four inches of rainfall. John, you look at this long range outlook, this is for next week into the latter portion of the week. This is above average rainfall right there over eastern Texas, well above average rainfall across the northeastern U.S., as well. But that's a concern because about 150 rivers are at or above capacity for flooding.

VAUSE: Ain't over yet.

Thanks, Pedram.

JAVAHARI: Yeah, yeah.

VAUSE: Thanks.

Malaysian media are reporting border security guards are suspected of being involved in human trafficking. The home minister days an investigation shows some local residents are part of the trafficking scheme. This comes after 139 shallow graves were found near the border with Thailand. Authorities expect this site was a detention camp used by gangs to hold migrants for ransom.

ITN's John Sparks reports from northern Malaysia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN SPARKS, ITN REPORTER, CHANNEL 4 NEWS: We were taken in army trucks to the bottom of the mountain. Where the Malaysian authorities said they had found a human trafficker's camp. This was a significant development. Last week, they vehemently denied there were any.

(on camera): But we're still going, are we? We're still going to the camp?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

[01:45:02] SPARKS (voice-over): The order was given and we began the climb. Yesterday, the Malaysians came clean, admitting there were at least 28 of these camps where traffickers held thousands of migrants, persecuted Burmese, called Rohinga, and impoverished Bangladeshis. And we followed in their footsteps. Men, women and children forced up and down this trail.

(on camera): The track is rough and it's very steep. You can see it's well used. There's litter all over the place. And it's difficult to believe that local people and members of the authorities didn't know that there were hundreds of people living out here.

(voice-over): The camp took shape from a distance. Such was its size, it wasn't easy to hide. A bamboo jail that stretched across the mountain clearing. But further details were hard to come by.

(on camera): How many people do you think were kept there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure.

SPARKS: Not sure. We've been given a few seconds to walk through the camp, but I think this is the wrong name for this place. It's more like a village or a prison complex. There are cells, rung with barbed wire, and watch towers and food, water, storage facilities. There's even a cage were people were kept, I presume, because they tried to escape.

(voice-over): Clearly, it was a place of real cruelty, where hundreds were held for the purposes of extortion. To earn their release, the victims' family members had to pay a ransom of $2,000 to $3,000. Later, we spoke to a young Rahinga who was held for seven months in a

jungle camp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Brokers told our relatives to send the money, and beat us while we were on the phone. They're very bad people. There's little to eat here. Some people starve. Many are sick.

SPARKS: Cherut (ph) managed to escape months ago, but many prisoners never leave.

Up in the mountain, forensics teams have begun examining 37 graves or burial pits. And on the earth's surface, we saw bone fragments and someone's jaw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): One man didn't have any money to pay the ransom, so the brokers beat him. They handed him over to the camp guards and said, "You can finish him." The guards took a rope and hanged him. I saw it.

SPARKS: It is an odious business and it's gone on for years. But now the authorities here in Malaysia and neighboring Thailand seem determined to uncover the truth. The Thais making more than 60 arrests. Still, many think the traffickers will soon return to the mountains.

John Sparks, Channel 4 News, northern Malaysia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:52:01] VAUSE: The U.S. Justice Department is set to announce corruption charges against officials at FIFA. Some officials were arrested here at this Zurich hotel. They've been staying there. They've been gathered for the re-election, what is expected to be the re-election of Sepp Blatter for his fifth term. All these charges now the result of a three-year long FBI investigation. The FBI is expected to make an announcement of these charges in the coming hours from its office in Brooklyn.

The U.S. military says it attack what it calls four terror infrastructures in Gaza, a response to a rocket fired from Gaza into Israel late Tuesday. The rocket landed near the Israeli city of Ashdod. There were no injuries. The area has been mostly quiet since a truce ended last summer's war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Amnesty International is taking another look at that war. The human rights groups says Hamas used the cover of war with Israel to settle some old scores against rival Palestinians in Gaza. A new report describes the killings of at least 23 people and dozens of cases of abduction and torture. The victims have been accused of collaborating with Israel, but the report calls the act war crimes. It says that they were intended to extract revenge and spread fear. Funeral services for blue's great B.B. King are set for Saturday. But

his friends and family have already come together to fight over his death and his fortune. Two of the musician's daughters say their father was poisoned.

Kyung Lah has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days after B.B. King's death, a stunning allegation. Two of his daughters now say their father was murdered. The women, Karen Williams and Patti King, claim that King's long-time business agent, Laverne Tony, and personal assistant, Myron Johnson, administered foreign substances to induce his premature death, that the indisputable King of blues was poisoned.

LARISSA DROHOBYCZER, B.B. KING DAUGHTERS ATTORNEY: They didn't see their father die. They didn't see him for a week before he died. They want to know and they want to be at peace.

LAH: King's doctor ruled the 89-year-old died from a series of strokes affiliated with diabetes. But the investigation prompted an autopsy to be conducted. So far, the coroner says there's no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: You don't have what you need.

LAH: Earlier this year, the daughters accused the business agent of elder abuse and neglect. But a judge says the women lacked evidence for the claims and dismissed the claims.

KAREN WILLIAMS, DAUGHTER OF B.B. KING: We want them to know we're not going to stop this. Today was not the final chapter in the B.B. King story.

LAH: It is an ugly postscript scene too often in celebrity deaths. Michael Jackson's death spurred multiple years-long from his family, including his mother.

CASEY KASEM, FORMER DEEJAY: Will this be the seventh week at number one.

LAH: Family members publicly battled over the conservativeship of radio legend, Casey Kasem, largely viewed as a fight for his millions in assets.

(SINGING)

[01:55:09] LAH: James Brown, the godfather of soul, left his tens of millions of dollars for scholarships to needy children. His children and partner still battling over the money.

Attorneys say the B.B. King case follows a familiar pattern.

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There's this estate. There's this pot of money that these folks are going to be fighting over and this is their attempt to fire a shot across the bow and say, look, we're aggressive and we're going to accuse you of this and, you know, we want a place at the table.

LAH (on camera): The lawyer for King's business agent blasted the affidavit, essentially calling it a piece of fiction. He says the claim that his client would have poisoned B.B. King is, quote, "absolutely ridiculous," and that all of this comes down to one word, money.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Thanks for watching. CNN NEWSROOM continues next hour with Errol Barnett and Rosemary Church. They will have an update on that breaking news story, charges against 14 FIFA officials, arrests being made over the last couple of hours.

This is CNN.

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