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Rescuers Struggle to Reach Earthquake Victims in Nepal; Earthquake Triggers Deadly Avalanche; International Aid Groups Rush to Help Nepal Victims. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Rescue teams are unable to reach thousands of stranded villagers. We still don't really know what's going on in the surrounding rural areas around Kathmandu. Many are feared buried alive.

[07:00:08] We're going to tap into the global resources of CNN and bring you the most complete coverage of this disaster. Let's start with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's live at a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

And as happened many times for you, Sanjay, you went there as a journalist. But you were first and foremost a doctor, and you did have to lay your hands on somebody and try and make a difference. What's the situation?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right, Chris. I mean, you know, when you are in these situations, oftentimes there is a greater demand for care than there is supply. Whether it be resources, whether it be personnel. And that's the case here, as well.

You can get a little bit of an idea. Just -- we're in the sort of drive area of a building that's not -- it wasn't actually functioning as a hospital. This has become a hospital, because there's been such tremendous demand. You can see people who are lined up. There have been ambulances that have come in from time to time. Taxicabs.

There was an 8-year-old girl who needed an operation. There was just such demand. There were 40 to 50 neurosurgical patients in this particular area, many of them outside.

I want to show you -- I don't know if you can see this. They gave permission to show this scan here. But just take a quick look. This is a CAT scan. They're able to do CAT scans here now, which is a big plus. And over here, just -- this may be more than you can see. But that white area over there, that's the blood collection. It's called an epidural hematoma. It's basically bleeding on top of the brain. If it's not treated, that can lead to someone dying or certainly having significant neurological problems. That was why the operation was performed, the operation that we were doing to try and remove that blood collection.

But again, you know, they asked for me to help, asked anybody to sort of roll up their sleeves and help because of the tremendous demand right now, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Sanjay, thank you very much. We know you have important work to do on the ground. Just stay looped in with us and let us know what we need to report to everybody else -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Nepal triggering a deadly avalanche at Mount Everest and killing at least 17 people there. More than 150 people are still on the mountain at this hour.

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

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me set the scene where we are right now. This is one of the many make- shift camps that has sprung up throughout the capital, and these are people that, simply put, are too afraid of the potential aftershocks to go back home. They've been living here since the earthquake first hit, running out with basically just the clothes that they could carry. They are receiving some food, water handouts. But it is in pretty short supply.

There was just an announcement that went around, warning people about the need to stay clean. You can just imagine the potential sanitation problems this causes, the potential for disease. And many more people, we saw them throughout the capital, trying to dig their loved ones out of the rubble.

That search-and-rescue effort very much ongoing here, ongoing throughout the country and, of course, ongoing at Mount Everest. Very dramatic, horrifying video of that avalanche that really is absolutely chilling. At least, as you were saying, 17 people so far dead.

The rescue effort there very challenging. It has to be conducted by helicopter only. Because, according to a helicopter pilot that we met at the airport, camps one and two are where many people are currently stranded, and the terrain, the path to reach them, in best of times is a very difficult one to navigate. And because of the avalanche, the earthquake damage being done to that at this stage, rescue can only happen by helicopter. And that had been hindered up until now by the weather.

For so many throughout the country at this stage, still such a sense of uncertainty. Many people still looking for their loved ones, Chris.

CUOMO: In many ways, Arwa, the danger right now, the enemy is time. So please keep us looped in, as we're telling everybody, as the conditions change so we can report it.

Life in this area is never going to be the same. This isn't just a spiritual destination. We're talking about Nepal. It is a home. CNN international correspondent Sumnima Udas is a native of Nepal, and she joins us now from Kathmandu.

Sumnima, how are your loved ones and what are you seeing around you?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in the center of Durbar Square, which is the center of Kathmandu, really the main tourist destination here where every tourist when they first arrive in Kathmandu, they come here because of the cultural heritage of this area.

Behind me, you can see Nepali police. You can see volunteers -- Nepali volunteers, foreign volunteers -- sifting through the rubble with their bare hands. Some have stayed. Some are just using steel plates, because they don't have anything else. They say they're not using heavy duty-material, heavy-duty equipment here, because they don't want to cause further damage to what is -- what are priceless objects.

[07:05:04] This used to be a three-story pagoda-style temple, dedicated to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu. Right next to -- this is dating back to the 16th Century. Adjacent to that, also in complete ruin, other temples to the Hindu gods, Shiva. There's at least seven or eight temples here dating from the 12th century to the 18th century in complete ruins.

People are just amazed. They, of course, are too scared to go back to their homes because of the continuous aftershocks. But they're just sort of hanging around here, looking at the complete loss of their national heritage. As some people here have been saying, centuries of tradition, centuries of history lost in just moments.

Back to you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Sumnima. I can imagine, they're only in a state of shock at this point.

Nepal is now facing rather a major humanitarian crisis here. International aid, though, is starting to pour in. We want to turn to our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, who's in Kathmandu.

And quite a scene of devastation around you.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm in front of what was the tallest building in this neighborhood, Michaela, a 7-story building where you can see the backhoe at work, digging through the rubble.

These are Indian national disaster response teams, an example of some of the international aid that's come in. And one of their representatives here say there are at least 15 teams from India that are working at other locations around here.

Now, this is particularly tragic, this location, because on the fifth and sixth floor of this building, there was a church. And when the earth began to shake in Kathmandu, there was a prayer service underway. So dozens of people were trapped and killed while in prayer in this church when the building was quite literally toppled over. You can see behind me here. There's a sad pile of personal

belongings behind these Nepalese police officers there. A guitar, a fuel drum, a Bible piled on top of them. We watched some of the recovery workers bringing out a cell phone of a woman, it looked like, about an hour-and-a-half ago as they brought out the 28th body from this pile of rubble.

And they were trying to show the cell phone to people, so that somebody could perhaps identify it to return it to loved ones.

And this is a scene that is likely being played out in other parts of this city, in other parts of this impoverished country in the wake of the deadliest earthquake that has hit this country in generations.

Back to you.

CUOMO: All right. Ivan, thank you very much. We're staying away from numbers, because it's too early. And as you know very well, the situation gets worse from here, not better.

So we want to bring in right now for some perspective Michael Kobold. He's founder and CEO of Kobold Expedition Tools. He established an operation in Nepal. And two of his employees are currently missing.

Now, you have a very strong personal tie to this. You have been to Everest. You believe you had your life saved by someone who is now gone. Tell us about it.

MICHAEL KOBOLD, FOUNDER/CEO, KOBOLD EXPEDITION TOOLS: Right. So we climbed Mount Everest twice. My wife and I actually met climbing Everest. The first year was 2009. Everything went well. We climbed with two Sherpas, Nongal (ph) and Tindu (ph). In 2010, we returned to climb Everest again, again with Nongal (ph) and Tindu (ph). My wife was pronounced dead after we reached the summit in that year by a medical doctor.

CUOMO: What happens?

KOBOLD: She asphyxiated, because of -- she was basically coughing so hard that she was coughing up the lining of her lungs, and because her air pipe was swollen, it clogged her air pipe, and so she died. And she was pronounced dead by a medical doctor.

CUOMO: I'm very sorry.

KOBOLD: Well, she's alive, because five minutes after she was pronounced dead, Nongal (ph) and Tindu (ph), Sherpa, raced to our tent and administered adrenaline and steroids and brought her back. The only she's with us today and is not brain dead is because it was so cold.

CUOMO: Well, it was cold and because the men know what to do in the moment? KOBOLD: Yes. Absolutely. But it was also minus 40 degrees. So

she survived. But now these guys are missing. We brought them to America for about a year to teach them how to make watches. I'm a watch maker. And we set up a company for them, invested about $200,000. And that company is now destroyed, as is everyone's homes, everyone that we employ.

CUOMO: So this started out as an adventure journey for you. It became life and death with your wife. And then these men, who wind up becoming much more than business partners; they're like family to you.

KOBOLD: yes.

CUOMO: And it's almost impossible to trace where they are right now because of the conditions there, but what's your best sense of where they were and what may be happening?

KOBOLD: Well, we know one is in the Lankan area trekking. We don't know what exactly happened with him. But I've just been told that he's alive. I've not spoken to him directly. The other one...

CUOMO: But you'll take that as a miracle, just the possibility?

KOBOLD: The problem with this is, Chris, there is so much conflicting information.

CUOMO: You don't know.

KOBOLD: In the heat of the moment, a lot of stuff comes out, and you don't know. But right now this is the latest news just this morning, that he's been trying to make contact, which is good.

[07:10:04] The other one, Tindu (ph), is on Everest, and unfortunately, there's no word from him. We don't know what happened. We hope for the best. But we just don't know.

CUOMO: Give us a sense of how desperate the situation will be for those who are on the mountain. And ironically, that it seems that they were in better situations, in most case, than those on the ground. What will they be dealing with in both circumstances?

KOBOLD: Well, the trouble really is that there is no more supply chain up to Everest base camp. Of course, and higher camps. What you have is usually a lot of food and water and provisions, based at base camp. And then it gets carried up the mountain.

If you're at the top of the mountain or near the top camp and you're in camp one through four -- I believe they're at camp one and two right now. And the icefall gets devastated, which is what happened. You're cut off. So these people have gone up there thinking that they would be up there for a day, maybe two. And they've been up there for two already. So they're running...

CUOMO: Icefall is the section between the base camp and these camps one and two that we keep hearing about?

KOBOLD: Correct.

CUOMO: And the avalanche has destabilized that. So it's not as easy to transport.

KOBOLD: You can't go up or down.

CUOMO: And yet you hear from -- we heard from one of the climbers there, and we're trying to reach others, that they're still thinking about maybe making an ascent. And part of that calculation is not just their drive but that they're worried about being worse if they go back down to Kathmandu. How bad do you think it can get in that city?

KOBOLD: It is pretty bad already, and it's going to get much worse. Because the roads are not in very good condition. The airport -- I've just spoken to the head of the civilian aviation board -- is, although it's functional, they're having issues with all sorts of logistics.

So the supply isn't getting in. The rescuers aren't getting in. Search-and-rescue teams aren't getting in as much as they would like. There's trickle-down effect, of course. So for another few days, it will be very dire. And as that continues, it just compounds the problem.

CUOMO: It's so rich, spiritually, this place. And that's how we know it. But on many other ways, it is very poor. And the infrastructure there, the government situation with outer China is very fragile, as well. What do you think the challenges are going forward?

KOBOLD: Well, the challenges, really, are to rebuild this country, and that is a big challenge, because as you correctly pointed out, the government isn't always very effective, as it is unlike in the United States, it's sometimes not effective. But there, it's really dysfunctional is perhaps the best word.

So the biggest challenge is rebuilding it. There is so much graft and corruption that it's sometimes hard to get anything done. So what we have done is we've founded an organization, incidentally, two weeks ago, called the Soarway Foundation. And that is -- was set up to actually construct earthquake-proof hospital, fire station, and first responder station. And we would administer that. We have a U.S. ambassador who will be retiring, former U.S. ambassador to Nepal, Scott Dalisi (ph), to run that organization.

CUOMO: So you had already set this up, by circumstance?

KOBOLD: Two weeks ago.

CUOMO: And what is it called? Because these are going to be very necessary. These are emergency equipment for on the ground for fire and rescue? What is it called?

KOBOLD: It's called Soarway-Foundation. "Soar" as in soaring, and "way" as in way. CUOMO: And you can give money there. And this will be

administered by you and the foundation that's already set up to get these resources there as quickly as possible?

KOBOLD: We're also driving fire trucks to Kathmandu, because Kathmandu, the valley, has about 5 million inhabitants. And until this earthquake struck, they only had five fire engines. So what we're doing is we're driving these fire engines from Calcutta, where we're shipping them, too, over the hills, foothills of the Himalayas, into Kathmandu.

And we have been planning this for four and a half years. Now that this earthquake has struck, obviously, our desire is to get this done more quickly and more efficiently. We're working with all sorts of people in the government of Nepal and through the State Department to make that happen.

CUOMO: Well, thank -- thank you for helping us understand how hard this is going to be. Your wife wound up making it through conditions that she shouldn't have because of these men. I know that affects you emotionally. And there's so many people there who may not be as lucky as she was. So thank you very much for joining us.

KOBOLD: Thank you.

CUOMO: And let us know how to help going forward. Alright?

KOBOLD: Thank you.

CUOMO: And look, we're telling this story this way, because this is the reality. I know it looks like the worst is the over, because the earthquakes have stopped. That's just not how it is here. You've heard Sanjay. The conditions on the ground are as bad as he has seen, and it will be like that today, this week, this month and going forward who knows how long.

So please, go to CNN.com/Impact and find out ways to help today and in the future -- Mick.

PEREIRA: What a tremendous story and a connection to what's going on right there right now. Thank you for that, Chris.

Let's give you a look at some of your other headlines at this hour. Our secretary of state, John Kerry, and Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Zarif will meet on the sidelines this afternoon in New York City. They're both attending a nuclear non-proliferation conference. They are expected to get together to follow up on the latest round of nuclear talks in Vienna. Iran and six world powers have until the end of June to finalize a nuclear agreement. Secretary Kerry will also meet with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan today.

CAMEROTA: Former President George W. Bush letting loose with his most pointed criticism yet of his successor. In what was said to be a closed-door meeting of Jewish donors in Las Vegas, President Bush called President Obama naive about Iran and its nuclear program, and accused him of putting America, quote, "into retreat around the world." President Bush has made a point of rarely criticizing President Obama in public.

[07:15:17] CUOMO: Freddie Gray will be laid to rest today in Baltimore. The 25-year-old died after suffering a severe spinal injury while in police custody. There has been outrage over Gray's death, and that outrage turned violent Saturday with protesters smashing windows and doing what you see on your screen right now.

Store fronts were destroyed, as well. Thirty-five people were arrested. Still no answers, though, to what happened to Freddie Gray.

CAMEROTA: We need to get those answers.

Well, we will have much more on the devastating earthquake in Nepal. As recently as last week, experts warning that a quake of this magnitude could soon strike Nepal.

CUOMO: And the Clinton Foundation finally admitting mistakes were made? Well, what do they see as those mistakes, and what will this mean for Hillary and her campaign. We ask John king on "Inside Politics."

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CAMEROTA: Rescue and recovery efforts continue at this hour in Nepal, two days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake left more than 3,700 people dead. An avalanche on Mount Everest triggered by the quake killed 17 people, and it left many more stranded on the mountain. Joining us now is Jim Davidson. He is an American. He is still on Mount Everest. He is at base camp.

Jim, can you hear me?

[07:20:03] JIM DAVIDSON, CLIMBER ON MOUNT EVEREST (via phone): Yes, I can.

CAMEROTA: Tell us the scene where you are.

DAVIDSON: Well, right now, I'm back here at the Everest base camp. It's at about 17,000 feet. And we have fortunate weather today. The weather cleared off, and you see a lot of helicopters. We got everybody off the upper mountains from camp two and camp one, where we have been spending the last few days.

CAMEROTA: And Jim, tell us about the moment of the earthquake and the moment that the avalanches followed. Did you -- were you witnessing that? Did you experience it?

DAVIDSON: Yes. I was at the camp with my teammates at 19,800 feet. We just arrived at the camp a couple hours before. And all of a sudden, we heard a very loud roar to our left. We couldn't see the avalanche because it was cloudy. At first we thought it was just a snow avalanche. And then the whole glacier began to stir up and down in a vertical sense about six inches, and we knew it was something very, very wrong going on. And then we started to pour out of our tents, and we heard a

second avalanche opposite the valley. So even though we were torn out of our tents, there was nowhere for us to run. We were surrounded by crevasses on three-and-a-half sides, and two avalanches pouring down onto the glacier we were on. We didn't know where to go, so in the end, we just stood there and hoped that the avalanche didn't hit us. And fortunately, it did not, and that began our time of being stuck up there at camp one.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Jim, that's terrifying. Tell us what was happening with you and your teammates while you were experiencing that.

DAVIDSON: Well, we were inside the tent, and we realized that the avalanche was coming our way. My teammates said, "What do we do?"

And I said, "Get your avalanche beacon. Grab your coat and hat. None of those would allow us to escape; it would simply allow us to be a little bit warmer if we got buried in the snow, go a little longer. The avalanche beacon might have allowed someone on our team or another team to find us.

But when I came out of the tent, and we were getting surrounded on both side, I and my teammates later reported that we all thought that this was probably it. And but we survived the first one. We were in that camping spot, but we were nervous over the next 40 hours as there were more tremors and we would feel the glacier moving around and more avalanches coming down. We were saved, but there was extreme danger on both sides.

CAMEROTA: So Jim, you're still on the mountain. I mean, you're at base camp. Are you going to come down? Are you going to summit? What's the plan?

DAVIDSON: Well, we are, myself and my teammates and other teams, all managed to fly down in helicopters today from camp one and camp two that was above us. So everybody is off the upper slopes of the mountain. They're back down at base camp now. And there's just no way to summit Mount Everest this year, because in the icefall, the steepest part of the lower part of the tent, a lot of loops and ladders you need to make it through this dangerous (UNINTELLIGIBLE), they've all collapsed and buried by avalanche and debris.

And plus, the whole community here is devastated. At least 17 people were lost in base camp. And so everyone is kind of walking around in a state of shock and sadness. So unfortunately, that means all climbing will be canceled so we can take care of the wounded and the fatalities and slowly shut down the season.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Jim, we are happy that you and your teammates survived this ordeal. Thanks for taking time to talk to us.

DAVIDSON: Thank you very much. And we wish the best of luck to you. Good (ph) to talk.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Best of luck to you, too, in getting off that helicopter today. Thank you.

Well, analysts have been expecting this earthquake of this magnitude in Nepal for years. Was Nepal prepared for the devastation that we're seeing now?

Joining us this morning is the deputy ambassador of the Nepalese mission to the United Nations, Sewa Lamsal Adhikari.

So thanks so much for being here. This is your home country. We're so sorry for what your friends and loved ones are experiencing. Have you been able to contact your relatives and loved ones there?

SEWA LAMSAL ADHIKARI, DEPUTY AMBASSADOR OF THE NEPALESE MISSION TO THE U.N.: Yes. Yes.

CAMEROTA: And how are they?

ADHIKARI: So far so good, but it's not a matter of my relatives and friends. It's a matter of all Nepalese people. And they are in a very difficult situation now.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. As we've been saying. Scientists had predicted, after the -- there was a massive earthquake 81 years ago in Nepal.

ADHIKARI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Ten thousand people killed. And scientists after that calculated that about every 75 years, a big earthquake would hit Nepal because of the shifting plates. So it was overdue. After that earthquake or even more recently, did -- was Nepal taking steps to better sort of retrofit buildings and protect against the inevitable?

ADHIKARI: The doctors (PH) are -- We are trying to the our best for this earthquake and everything, but still our preparedness is not that very much aware.

CAMEROTA: And the preparedness is not very good because Nepal just can't afford it? I mean, is there that the Nepalese people could go to protect themselves better?

[07:25:10] ADHIKARI: Yes. There are some. But still, we need some good infrastructures, good plan, good services, technologies that we can alert them, make them aware of this, you know. After a disaster taking place, also, we can do a lot, but still we are lagging very behind to rescue them, to serve, you know.

CAMEROTA: What about schools? Are schools strong enough there? What about hospitals?

ADHIKARI: New infrastructures, they are, yes, strong enough. But still this kind of massive disaster, you never know. But all buildings, all infrastructures, they have been devastated.

CAMEROTA: What we're seeing today is that, because these houses, some of the houses have just crumbled, and people -- there are droves and droves of people who are now living on the streets. They can't go back into their homes.

I mean, we had Sanjay Gupta. He's at a hospital there. He says that there aren't enough doctors to accommodate all of the wounded coming in. and the wounded are mostly coming in with these, you know, compound fractures from buildings having fallen on them. Something, I mean, if Nepal is going to experience an earthquake every 75 years, something has to change.

ADHIKARI: Definitely, definitely. We need the country default for this kind of disaster. We know Nepalese is very vulnerable to these kind of disaster. So we need more preparedness.

This time, maybe we need to think about this letter. This time we need to focus on the rescue, release and the rehabilitation of the victims of the earthquake. So it's still -- there is lack of the support to the needy people. The roads, everything is blocked. We need helicopters. Like we saw -- we just saw them rescue, you know, so we need a lot of support at this time.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And people can, of course, go to CNN.com to see how to support the people of Nepal.

ADHIKARI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Sewa Adhikari, thank you so much for coming in. And we're happy to hear that your loved ones are OK this morning. Let's get over to Michaela.

ADHIKARI: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

PEREIRA: So the world now rushes to the aid of people in earthquake-torn Nepal. That includes our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He just performed brain surgery on a young survivor. We are going to speak with Sanjay next.

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