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Massive Earthquake Devastates Nepal; International Aid Groups Rush to Help Nepal Victims; Climber on Mount Everest on Scene at Base Camp. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The death toll now at 3,432.

[05:58:13] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the room shaking. Then I saw the water tank falling, the building falling.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): These hospitals don't have any shelter for their patients.

(on camera): This is a triage area. This is normally a lobby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Road infrastructures have been totally wiped out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An avalanche of that scale, there's very little you can do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Baltimore, 25-year-old Freddie Gray will be laid to rest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protests became violent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please stop the violence. Freddie Gray would not want this.

BRUCE JENNER, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: For all intents and purposes, I am a woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He really is genuinely doing it to make the world a better place.

JENNER: Suicide rates, murder rates. I would like to think that we could save some lives here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Monday, April 27, 6 a.m. in the East, and we want to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. The crisis in Nepal is now clear for all to see. A third day of

search-and-rescue operations under way after Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake and powerful aftershocks. Right now, the death toll still climbing. More than 3,700 lives lost.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CO-HOST: And aftershocks continue to traumatize survivors as rescuers struggle to reach those still stranded or buried in the rubble. The quake triggering landslides in Kathmandu and that deadly avalanche at Mount Everest.

We have this disaster covered the only way CNN can. Let's begin with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's at a hospital in Kathmandu, and he's just performed brain surgery on a victim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERS)

GUPTA (voice-over): Cheers from the crowd as survivors continue to be pulled from the rubble this morning. Nepal's death toll rising into the thousands as millions suffer through the country's strongest earthquake in more than 80 years. The country now on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

(on camera): We're nearly two days now after the earthquake, and we're starting to get an idea of just how busy things are. We're at the busiest hospital in this particular area. Emergency vehicles, people coming in. We've got patients either being rescued, finally found, finally making their way through the traffic in the chaos to get to the hospital. And these patients are the lucky ones.

(voice-over): Damage and aftershocks hindering foreign aid as hospitals are overrun with severe injuries and a lack of resources.

(on camera): This is Selena (ph). She's 8 years old. She just got here by ambulance. This is pretty typical, what you're seeing here. She was outside getting some water when the earthquake occurred. The house, the house that she was living in, fell down around her (ph). She has compound fractures of her skull.

(voice-over): Watch the earth shake violently in these surveillance videos in Kathmandu on Saturday. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks causing massive avalanches on Mount Everest. Watch as climbers of the world's largest mountain become engulfed in the monstrous cloud of falling snow.

Helicopters rushing to evacuate the severely injured.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our guide said, "This is an earthquake."

GUPTA: As survivors begin to contact their loved ones.

GREG STUMIER, PARENT OF AVALANCHE SURVIVOR: It's just good to see that she is alive after something so big. GUPTA: Many more were not so lucky. The wife of a California

documentary filmmaker on assignment on Mount Everest received the heartbreaking news via satellite phone.

COREY FREYER, WIFE OF AVALANCHE VICTIM: He was on the mountain with his climbers to tell me that Tom was dead. I guess he was blown away by the blast, rather than being buried in any rubble.

GUPTA: Historical buildings, iconic symbols of Nepal, demolished. The nine-story-high Dharahara Tower, a landmark tourist attraction, completely destroyed. At least 50 bodies pulled from its ruins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, what incredible pictures Sanjay is showing us. As you just saw there in Sanjay's piece, the earthquake that battered Kathmandu triggered a massive avalanche on Mount Everest, caught on this heart-pounding video. Take a look at this. This is as it pours in.

At least 17 people were killed there, and many are still trapped on the mountain.

Our coverage continues with CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon. What's the latest, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, let's give you an idea of where we are, Alisyn. This is one of the many make-shift camps that have sprung up throughout Kathmandu. These are all people who are, simply put, too afraid to go back home because of the potential for those aftershocks.

The crowd that you can see right there, they are all waiting for food. Food and water being distributed here. This very much a population that is still traumatized, still trying to cope with everything that it has been through, and so many people at this stage still remain missing.

You were speaking about that dramatic video on Mount Everest. That also one of the key locations that rescue workers are desperately trying to reach.

We actually met a helicopter pilot on our way in here at the airport who was describing just how difficult of a task they had. First, they were facing severe weather conditions, very difficult, up until today. And then he was saying that many of those who are trapped are trapped at camps one and two. And the only way to reach them right now because of the damage caused by the earthquake, by the avalanche on an already treacherous part of the route, is by helicopter.

Throughout this entire country, people are still desperately trying to reach loved ones, trying to dig through rubble, and clinging to that very small hope that their relatives, their family members might still be alive, Chris. CUOMO: All right, Arwa. Thank you very much. Please keep us

updated on the situation there. We understand it is literally changing by the hour.

Well, we certainly know that the powerful earthquake is reducing life in Nepal to its bare existence. Many homes and even historic landmarks are now just rubble.

Let's go to CNN international correspondent Sumnima Udas. She is a native of Nepal and was there just three weeks ago. She has this part of the story for us.

Sumnima, I know this is hard for you on many levels, but what is it like around you?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in the heart of Kathmandu here. This is where all tourists come whenever they come through Kathmandu Valley. This is a UNESCO world heritage site. And you can see what's left of it, really. That behind me used to be a three-story temple, an abode for one of the main deities here.

And as you can see, we've been here the past five hours. You know, in the beginning, there were only five to six people, mainly police personnel, Nepali police personnel, digging. Now, so many people have been joining in, Nepali volunteers, foreign volunteers. They're digging with their bare hands. Some of them do have shovels. Some of them are using steel plates to do this, because that's all they can find, really.

[06:05:20] But they're also saying they don't want to use heavy- duty equipment at the moment, because they don't want to cause further damage to these artifacts, really. I mean, these are -- this temple is from the 16th century, the one next to it from the 12th Century. Every single part of these -- this temple, every single beam, wooden beam, these are carved. They -- anywhere else they would be in a museum. Here, they're part of normal life. People go to every single temple here. There are sculptors inside where people worship the deities.

So for a lot of people here, this is the only Hindu kingdom (ph) in the world. It is also where Buddha was born. People are deeply spiritual here. And, you know, everyone has been talking about the loss -- the massive loss of lives and also people's homes that have been destroyed.

But when they come and see this, what's left of their national heritage, something they're very proud of, people are completely shaken here.

CUOMO: All right. Sumnima, thank you very much. We'll be checking back with you throughout the morning. Appreciate it.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Meanwhile, international aid is pouring into Nepal from all over the world. Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has more on helping the victims. And I know one of the challenges, Ivan, is getting that much-needed aid to the people who really need it.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, but Michaela, let's first talk about where I am right now. This is in front of a seven-story building, what used to be a seven- story building that was basically knocked over and crushed. Vehicles parked nearby.

Right now, there are Indian disaster management teams that are doing the hard work with picks, pickaxes, with shovels, with a bulldozer, and they're digging through the rubble. We just saw within the last half hour the 28th victim pulled out from what had been a seven-story building.

Even more tragically, when the earth began to shake, there was a church on the fifth and sixth floors of this building, and there was a prayer service under way. So it was packed with people at that time. So most of the victims here, in fact, are from the teeny Christian minority here in Nepal. The majority of the dozens of people here who were killed when this building came tumbling down. Some of their possessions recovered. We saw rescue workers pulling out a cell phone, for example, and showing it to onlookers, so that they can perhaps help identify a body, perhaps help give it to relatives of a loved one.

And this is a scene that is being played out all across this city. One of the Indian rescue workers I have spoken to here. He says there are more than 15 teams just from India alone that are operating at similar location, digging through the rubble, pulling out victims and, sadly, very few stories of survivors being pulled from this.

Earlier, we were at a scene of Hindu cremations along a river by the Pashupatinath Temple, and there were more than a dozen cremation funerals under way. More bodies, more victims being brought in, literally every 15 minutes. And one of the workers there, who was stoking the flames, told me that 95 percent of the people that he's seen undergoing this funeral ceremony, all victims of this terrible earthquake, the worst this country has seen in generations.

Back to you.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, Ivan. we know these first 72 hours are SO critical to find survivors. Let's hope that they can do that in the next few hours. Thank you for that.

We want to bring in now Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He is live on the ground for us in Kathmandu. He's at a hospital, where he is actually helping to work on some of the victims.

Sanjay, can you hear us?

GUPTA (via phone): I can hear you, Alisyn. I am at what's called Bir Hospital. It's one of the largest hospitals here in the city, and it is a chaotic scene. I will tell you, it's -- they're taking in hundreds of patients. And they had a big influx of patients right after the earthquake. What I was told, then, for several hours, they didn't have as

many patients. That was probably during some of those rescue missions that Arwa and Ivan were describing. And now just behind me, there are ambulances that are coming in. There are structures (ph) around this area. They've had to use the open area here in front of the hospital as the triage area. They came out, basically, take in as many patients as they need to here.

I'm looking behind me here. There are surgeons are going into the make-shift operating room. That's the makeshift room that I was in a short time ago, as well, performing operations. They need more resources. They need more personnel here right now. And they're expecting many, many more patients as these rescue missions go on.

[06:10:09] This is one of three main hospitals here. And as far as we can tell, they're barely able to keep up right now. It's part of the reason that they asked me. I think they're asking for anybody to try and pitch in. And obviously, we're doing that. We're just looking around here. There's many patients who have come in with crushing injuries. They've got what is known as compartment syndrome. They need to have operations reformed in the field. And then they're brought here to the hospital to try and prevent infection.

But this is -- they anticipate this, obviously, as you might imagine, Alisyn, for several more days. At least an operation or two an hour now over the last 24 hours here.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Sanjay, we understand the hospital is overrun. You've shown us these pictures. And that they just have more patients than they can accommodate, which is why you've jumped into action. Tell us about this little girl we're seeing on our screen whom you just performed brain surgery on.

GUPTA: The little girl's name is Selena (ph). She is 8 years old. She came from about an hour-and-a-half away. And that's part of the problem, as well. I am sure you can see of these images, Alisyn. They're very remote areas. And people just could not get care within the first 24 hours. As the rescue missions go on, they find these families who have been trapped underneath rubble. They have, in this case, this little girl, she had rubble on her head, thus the compound fracture and a blood clot on her brain.

Her brother also developed significant fractures, as well, essentially the entire house fell down as she was out getting water, doing some work outside, I was told, when this all happened. And -- and as you heard, it was just a significant, significant amount of energy. It really troubled that entire neighborhood, we are told. We're not sure about the whereabouts of her parents. It was her grandfather that brought her in. We're still trying to locate other family members.

But this, I am being told, Alisyn, is a rather common scenario. Just another ambulance is pulling in right now. Sometimes they come in taxicabs. Sometimes they come by foot. Sometimes they're being carried by family members or friends. You don't know. But this is a common scenario what we're seeing right now. And again, there was a little bit of a lull, and people thought maybe the worst was over. But that was when some of these rescue missions were going on. And now those patients are all coming to these hospitals.

CAMEROTA: I mean, of course, this is a good news, bad news scenario in that they're finding survivors. That's the good news. But that the hospital can't accommodate all the patients. How many patients do you think are there right now, Sanjay?

GUPTA: I have been asking that same question. It's so hard to tell. I will tell you there's a main hospital that's right next door to where I'm standing now. That building is about 120 years old, I'm told. But when the first earthquake happened, people obviously very frightened, and they decided to evacuate that hospital, not only of personnel, but obviously, all the patients. They brought the patients into this other smaller building. And there are patients inside the building, but also many, many patients outside, as well.

It's just tough to really track how many there are. Then as these aftershocks, these tremors continue to happen. Each time they have to make a decision. Do they bring everybody that's inside outside again? And keep in mind, there are patients who are on breathing machines, on ventilators. So it's a big process each time one of these aftershocks happens, to try to figure out if it's going to be a big aftershock, how significant it's going to be, how much do we evacuate again.

And there was a smaller tremor about a half an hour ago, a major, as one I'm sure yesterday registered about 6.8. A very, very significant aftershock. But that's what they're worried about. They are trying to do their work while simultaneously worrying about these aftershocks.

And, obviously, challenging enough with the situation, but even more so with these aftershocks. In the operating room just now, I don't know if you've seen any of that footage, Alisyn, but they didn't have proper operating room lights. They're literally bringing in five lights to the operation. They didn't have electricity, these drills. Everything had to be done by hand to remove a portion of the skull to perform the operations. They didn't have the power to be able to use cauterizations to stop bleeding. It is primitive as things stand right now, even washing their hands. Sterilizing your hands involves someone pouring a bottle of saline water over your hands with iodine.

I've seen situations all over the world, Alisyn. And this is as bad currently as I've seen. It's just really, really challenging with the limited resources, limited staff and now another influx of patients.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, Sanjay, you have really brought the tragedy there to life for us. And we know you have a Herculean task ahead of you, you and the other doctors there. We'll let you get back to that. Thanks for taking time and, of course, we'll check back in with you. Thank you, Sanjay.

Let's get over to Chris. [06:15:02] CUOMO: And one of the reasons that Sanjay is saying

this is as bad as he has seen is because you have a disaster within a disaster going on.

On the ground, you have people just starting to climb out of the rubble, trying to get anyway they can into the civilian centers where they can get help.

But meanwhile, still on Mount Everest, there are people trapped. And every time there is an aftershock, that could mean an avalanche. And right now we have people trapped on the base camp in the tallest mountain in the world on the phone with us, Carsten Peterson.

Carsten, can you hear us?

CARSTEN PETERSON, TRAPPED CLIMBER (via phone): I can hear you, yes.

CUOMO: Please, it's so good to hear your voice. How are you? How are others there? What's the situation?

PETERSON: We all are doing good. We rescued all your team on the surface down from camp one and camp two, and everybody is doing good. We had no injuries. We had no fatalities. Everything is fine for our team, but for base camp and some of the other teams, it has been devastating.

CUOMO: Devastating meaning what? What have you heard? What have you seen?

PETERSON: Well, some of the people who were trapped up on the mountain came down now to see if -- what remained of their camp, and some camps have been completely blacked out. Base camp is probably 500 tents and probably around 45 different expeditions, and some of them are gone. They have been wiped out by the avalanche.

CUOMO: We're hearing that as many as 17 people lost their lives. What do you know about how many people are there, how many people you're looking for?

PETERSON: We had the last official count here of body counts, actually bodies waiting to be choppered down with 14 bodies. And we evacuated 50 people who were injured, and some of them seriously.

CUOMO: How difficult is it moving around up there? Obviously, you're dealing with just about a third of the oxygen that you would have at sea level. How difficult, how challenging, given the change now with all the snow and ice that came down?

PETERSON: Well, we spent a lot of time getting up here. So that is not an issue. If you fly up here and you just want to spend some time here, you're going to have a hard time. But most of us have been here for a while, been here for more than a week. We are climatized. We're used to this.

That is the least of our problems. CUOMO: What are the biggest challenges?

PETERSON: Right now Nepal has to figure out if it's better for Nepal if the tourists flee the country and don't spend any more dollars or if it's better for Nepal that the tourists stay.

CUOMO: How about for you, Carsten? Then what does it look like in terms of how long you'll be there? And different ways that you can get back down.

PETERSON: Well, I can get down if I want to. I don't know what I'm going to walk into when I get to Kathmandu, but if there is a chance and if our Sherpas want to, I would think they must like to climb Mount Everest. And some of my fellow climbers, they've been rescued off the mountain. Today they want to go back up.

CUOMO: So people that you just pulled out of the snow and ice after everything that you've experienced are still considering whether or not to make the final ascent. What is that pull?

PETERSON: Yes, well, the biggest problem now is that -- and, of course, this is devastating for the Sherpas. We all understand that. That some of the Sherpas' families and houses have been damaged by the earthquake. And if they want to go home, of course, they should go home. But Nepal also has to figure out. What about all the tourists? Is it good for Nepal that the tourists are leaving, or is it that they spend some dollars so Nepal can get some currency to rebuild the country?

CUOMO: Let's separate what you may do in the future and what you've just lived through in the past. What was it like up there to feel the initial effects of the earthquake and the aftershocks? And are any still coming?

PETERSON: Well, I was one of the, I would say, lucky ones. I just came down pretty quickly. And I was in camp one and camp two before most of the other people.

So I also came down before. I wasn't trapped up in camp one. I came down just as we -- when the earthquake happened in base camp and when the avalanche ripped through base camp. And I had to run for my life. And I -- luckily, I was very close to camp. I didn't make it, but I hid behind a stone setting that is used for religious purpose here.

CUOMO: A stone setting for religious purposes wound up being very meaningful to you, as well.

[06:20:06] What was it like as the snow and the conditions came down around you? Did you think you were going to make it?

PETERSON: We panicked. When we first heard the earthquake, it was so strong we had to stand still. We were walking back to camp to our camp when we left camp one, and the earthquake was so strong we had to stand still not to fall. Then the avalanche came, and it was so tall. We couldn't see the mountain anymore. And we started running back to camp in panic.

CUOMO: The avalanche was so tall that you couldn't see the top of Mount Everest anymore. This is one of those days, I guess, even...

PETERSON: Right. From the camp. What we mostly see is we see mountains all around us, but it was all just white. It was a mix of powder, snow, ice and rocks, and that's what injured most people here is that the ice and the rocks and the debris swept through base camp. People tried to outrun it, and they got their rocks in their head and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- often threw them into rocks.

CUOMO: Just horrible. And it's amazing, with all you've dealt with up there, there are still those among you who are thinking about making the final ascent. We'll have the producer stay with you on the phone, Carsten. Please, give us any updates, and let us know if there are people who need to have their families contacted so that everybody knows that you all are OK up there, those who have made it through. And thank you. We look forward to what you decide. Just please, stay safe. That has to come first, right?

PETERSON: Yes. We will. Thanks.

CUOMO: All right. All right. Carsten, be well. Imagine what he is saying there, that the avalanche was so tall that they couldn't see the peaks of Everest anymore, 29,000 feet up in the air. And that, subject to the Sherpas and their families and their needs and their emotions, they may climb again.

CAMEROTA: Right. I mean, just hearing about that scene of the mixture of snow and ice and rocks. And it was so powerful that some people were just blown off the mountain.

PEREIRA: It is not -- the irony is not lost on any of us. The very thing that draws those climbers there is what caused those mountains to be so majestic and ultimately took those 17 lives.

CUOMO: And one of the reasons, as dire as it has been up there, that they can think about still climbing, is that's not the worst of it.

PEREIRA: No.

CUOMO: The worst of the need right now, is what you were seeing there on the sea level. It's not sea level. It's high up in the mountains of Nepal. But not up on Everest. The need is great. Not just today, not just this week. You're just dealing with the immediate after effects.

So please, go to CNN.com/Impact and find out ways that you can help. Because for weeks and months, they will be dealing with need and disease in Nepal. If there's not a ton of human and material support there right away.

CAMEROTA: Right. So we've been telling you about this domestic scene unfolding in Nepal, and that powerful earthquake triggered that deadly avalanche, as we just heard, at Mount Everest. So will the earth stop shaking? Will all those aftershocks stop

long enough for rescue teams to reach dozens of people still stranded on the mountain?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:03] CUOMO: So the story in Nepal has two main dynamics ongoing right now. You have what is happening on the ground, utter devastation. People climbing out of the rubble and trying to find ways to give the medical attention and the immediate needs that are required by so many thousands of people.

Then you have the drama up above, on Everest, where there were about a thousand people attempting to climb the world's largest mountain when that earthquake hit.

Now, take a look at this video. It shows the moment when the base camp got hit. Seventeen people lost their lives. We have a climber who reached the summit of Mount Everest with us right now. His name is -- he soloed it in 2011, which is a very difficult thing to do. And he wrote a book called "Blind Descent." His name is Brian Dickinson. And he's going to talk to us about what it is like on that mountain right now and what the chances are, going forward.

Also we have representatives from Save the Children, one of the largest aid groups on the ground there: Brad Kerner, public health director -- he's joining us from Nepal -- and Gary Shea. He's the senior director of humanitarian operation, and he's with me here in the studio.

It's great to have all of you here. The need is great on several levels. Let's deal with the exigent circumstances up on the mountain.

Brian, what is it like right now for those people who are clinging together and hoping to wait out the conditions?

BRIAN DICKINSON, CLIMBED MT. EVEREST SOLO: Yes, on Everest, it's difficult, because this isn't anything anyone asked for. These are climbers. They have goals. So you can see, they have this drive to climb the highest mountain in the world. And then, out of nowhere, you know, this massive tragedy hits.

And unlike last year, which was very tragic, when 16 Sherpa lost their lives, that was an isolated incident. This year, the whole country is wrecked, and I think out of respect for the Sherpa and the Nepalese people, I mean, you really have to, you know, just respect what they need. And you know, they need to get down and see if their villages and their families are safe. And if they close the mountain for the year, I mean, that's what they need to do. And you need to kind of put your goals on hold at this point.

But I know when you're in the moment, it's very difficult to kind of take a step back and realize all of that.

CUOMO: The ambition of wanting to climb is one thing. The ambition of wanting to survive a very different one. What are they doing right now? How long can they hold out if the conditions stay as they are now, and they're not able to get helicopters to some of these locations? What are the possibilities up there?

DICKINSON: So I heard today they are bringing a lot of people down from the higher camps, which is great. But it's very difficult. It's above 20,000 feet, and if weather is not perfect, the pilots are feeling it that day, I mean, you can only stay up there with so long. So you really have to take advantage of the weather windows.

It's difficult, because you have to be, you know, mentally tough. You're essentially cut off from the world. But at the same time, you have some of the best guides in the world up there. They're trained in survival tactics. They have the gear, you know, fuel and food necessary to live for, you know, a week or a few weeks and to ration what they have, and at that altitude, you're not overly hungry anyways.

But at the same time you just have to, you know, keep your morale up...