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Rescuers Struggle To Reach Earthquake Victims; Clinton Foundation Defends Itself; Vermont's Bernie Sanders Joins The Race; The Science Behind Earthquakes. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 27, 2015 - 7:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the latest now on the growing crisis in Nepal, 3,700 is an early estimate of the lives lost. That death toll is expected to rise. Saturday's 7.8 quake and dozens of damaging aftershocks are making it impossible for search and rescue teams to reach the thousands who may be stranded or even trapped.

An avalanche at Mount Everest killing at least 17 leaving 150 people stranded on that mountain. We have the very latest now from CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from a hospital there in Kathmandu.

You've been telling about the surgery that you've been pressed into service and performing, tell us what else you are learning -- Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, one of the situations is that because of these aftershocks, Michaela, it makes it challenging for obviously anybody to be inside buildings, but even more so for hospitals.

One of the main buildings is 120-years-old. Shortly after the earthquake, they essentially moved people out of that hospital and moved many of them into this building behind me. It's not a big enough building to handle all those patients.

So there is a lot of overcrowding patients, upstairs, outside on balconies in a very small operating room, in which to perform operations. They don't have adequate operating lights. They don't have enough electricity to power some of the instruments to cauterize bleeding.

So that's a situation ongoing here. I can tell you in the break a couple minutes ago. One of the doctors came out and said they had five more neurosurgical brain officers they will need to do just in the next few hours.

So there is a tremendous demand here, Michaela, not enough supply, either of resources or personnel. Patients keep coming in. They come in waves as it turns out. We see the demand so far is outpacing the supply.

PEREIRA: Well, that sounds like we are going to see less of you on TV and they will need you in the O.R. to be sure, Sanjay. I also understand somebody that you spoke to is the president of Nepal. What did he have to say?

GUPTA: Yes, President Ram Baran Yadav hasn't talked to the media since this all happened. This was the first time he actually spoke to somebody. I asked him a question. He was touring the hospital over here, coming to see the injured.

I asked him, simply, is Nepal able to take care of the injured? And what he said, you know, look, this has been a big calamity. It's obviously a huge tragedy. Right now, they're in dire straits, but they're relying on the international community for help. He was thankful to the international community.

He was moving fast, Michaela. I guess, he is trying to get out and see as much as he can. It's the first time he spoke sort of acknowledging the fact that international relief is necessary and he is very thankful for it at this time -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: They are going to need it now and well beyond. Sanjay, thank you so much. We will be checking back in with you when we can, obviously.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Michaela, we do want to get back to our breaking news in a moment. But first we want to touch on politics so let's get to "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY with John King. Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Good morning to you, Alisyn. God bless the good doctors there helping out in Nepal. Quickly, let's get you updated and go Inside Politics.

This morning with me to share their reporting and their insights are Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast" and Olivier Knox of "Yahoo! News."

Let's start this, it's not quite an apology, but the Clinton Foundation is explaining itself and admitting it's the Washington term the stakes were made.

There is a big controversy at the moment about Bill Clinton raising money from these business guys. You got a good deal with the Russian and uranium sales taking big money from a kremlin-linked bank at that time the Russians were trying to get approval from the State Department for something.

[07:35:03] The Clinton Foundation this morning not directly getting into the details, saying, "Yes, we made mistakes, as many organization of our size do, but we are acting quickly to remedy them and have taken steps to ensure they don't happen in the future.

We are committed to operating the foundation responsibly and effectively to continue the life changing work that this philanthropy is doing every day."

How big of a problem is this for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, that as people have now scrubbed the foundation deal, they find some stuff that at least without a doubt has a clear perception problem?

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": That's exactly what it is. Peter Sweitzer who wrote, "Clinton Cash" is coming soon, said this weekend there is nothing illegal here. It's the appearance of impropriety that will keep dogging them. You have to ask the question, why were the books looked at before she declared she was running for president? She knew she was running for two years. You wonder why that wasn't done.

KING: You wonder why some of the actions, some of the things were done because they go after. Mr. Sweitzer is a conservative. He has worked in a think tank and so Democrats have every right to say be skeptical and scrub his work because of his political history.

However, it is a fact, Bill Clinton took $500 from a bank as a speaking fee at the time that bank was involved in this deal and that the Russian uranium deal was on the table.

It is a fact he introduced this business to the Kozak government, which was part of this deal. So just saying, you know this was unearthed by a Republican or a conservative isn't good enough.

OLIVIER KNOX, "YAHOO NEWS!": No, it's not. And while you're right that everyone should be skeptical, the news media should be digging into these things. It's one of the easiest stories to tell. A country wanted this outcome, country A gave a fortune to the Clinton Foundation and the outcome they wanted occurred.

There are no smoking guns at least that I've seen in what little I've seen of the book, but it's a pretty tough narrative. The Clinton campaign is out there saying this is bogus. She wasn't the only decision maker in these processes. Certainly not the most important in a lot of cases, but it's a really hard story to push back against.

KING: In any event, but especially when you know if this Bill Clinton who is head of the foundation at this time because she is secretary of state, you know, your spouse is going to run or very likely to run for president, you would think he has a higher bar there. The question is, does she pay a political price?

So far Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland hasn't gone there. He questions her leadership. He says she seems to follow the polls, not her principle.

The new guy to the Democratic race, Lincoln Chafee, used to be Republican. Then he was an independent. Now he says he's a Democrat. In South Carolina over the weekend, he went there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINCOLN CHAFEE (D), FORMER RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR: You want to see someone who hasn't had scandal after scandal after scandal. I never had an ethical blemish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: He's right with a new Democrat. With a Democrat saying this, can he get traction with that?

KUCINICH: I think you know who might have a bigger microphone is someone like a Bernie Sanders if he starts to go after Hillary Clinton. Lincoln Chafee might be too obscure, but he is not the only Democrat starting to say these things especially there is a window there. There is definitely a window there and if you are a Democrat, it doesn't necessarily like Hillary Clinton, the door is opened.

KING: Speaking of Bernie Sanders, he is going to get into the race officially and join Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders, we are told, will get in, within in a matter of days. So far he hasn't gone down the ethical path. He is focused on economics saying among other things, he thinks Hillary Clinton is great. She would be a good president. He thinks she is a little too close to Wall Street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (D), VERMONT: They may have the money. We got the people. Our job is to educate, to organize and say enough is enough. America does not belong to the billionaire class. It belongs to all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I don't know that Bernie Sanders can beat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. He likes debates. He likes debating policy. He's a feisty guy. He will give her some fits.

KNOX: He is an independent from Vermont. Yes, I mean, this is a recurring criticism of the Clinton administration, right. We're too close to Wall Street and I do believe this if you think that the 2016 election economic argument is going to turn on inequality as well, this is a powerful argument.

It's been made before. There is a very large audience inside the Democratic Party that is predisposed to believing this about the Clintons.

KING: She seems to understand that. In the Des Moines register today, she does address the inequality issue again. She has been heaping praise on Elizabeth Warren. Hillary Clinton seems to know that's the argument coming.

Let's shift to the Republican side. We talked last week about Ted Cruz. We thought it was an odd event. Two gay businessmen in New York had Ted Cruz up for a dinner. It was not a fundraiser. It was called a fireside chat.

But these two gay businessmen are proponents of same sex marriage. Ted Cruz has said he believes we should not have same sex marriage. He says the states should make a decision.

He said people should fall to their knees and pray that the Supreme Court defends traditional marriage while these businessmen feel a backlash. Here's Ian Reisner wrote on his Facebook on Sunday, "I'm shaken to my bones by the e-mails, text, postings and phone calls of the past few days, I made a terrible mistake.

[07:40:03] I was ignorant, naive and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights." What happens here?

KUCINICH: I think Cruz has gone out of his way to talk about this in more conservative terms. He's worried about the appearance to his base. So I think, yes, I think everybody loses when it comes to that meeting in this particular case.

KING: Interesting. The business was threatened. These guys run the hotels, so friendly to the gay community. This is a quick realization, my search engine, typing a few words could have convinced him.

KNOX: He has no idea. I guess it's possible. They've talked about this. It got a lot of attention in social media in the clout of the economic clout of the people leading this backlash can't be denied.

KING: We will follow this one as it goes forward. Olivier and Jackie, thanks for coming in on Monday.

Alisyn, as we get to you guys in New York, there is the "New York Post" story if you haven't read it this morning, that says in the relative new future, you might have a new legal expert in town.

The "New York Post" suggesting that President Obama after he leaves office may want to go to Colombia and teach law so maybe you'll have him up the road if you need to come in some morning.

CAMEROTA: Interesting, we should start booking that right now. All right, John, thanks, so much for that.

We are getting back to our breaking coverage of the devastating earthquake in Nepal. We will be talking on an expert about the science of predicting quakes.

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[07:45:37]

PEREIRA: We want to take a look at that 7.8 magnitude quake that has decimated Nepal. What makes this part of the world particularly vulnerable to earthquakes?

Here to walk us through the science is physicist and host for the Science Channel, Deborah Berebichez. What a pleasure to have you here. I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances, 7.8, boy, that is chilling. How significant is that in this area compared to other earthquakes they have seen?

DEBORAH BEREBICHEZ, PHYSICIST: That's a good question. So earthquakes are measured by the amount of energy they release. And so the scale, for example, if you go from a 7 magnitude earthquake to an 8, that's a factor of 32 tons more energy.

In this case, if you compare it to the Haiti earthquake which was a magnitude 7 or about this is an 8, if you were to increase it by 2 say from 7 to 9, that would be a thousand times more energies released. With the terrain and building codes not being up to par in that area of the world --

PEREIRA: Looking at the map, too, we know that this subsequently, all of these aftershocks have been particularly devastating as well. Are you anticipating more?

BEREBICHEZ: Correct. Yes. Invariably we always have the earth and the tectonic plate addressing after a major quake.

PEREIRA: On top of that, let's talk about what this area, the depth was quite shallow.

BEREBICHEZ: Correct.

PEREIRA: About 7 to 9 kilometers?

BEREBICHEZ: Seven miles, deep.

PEREIRA: The terrain plays as part in that as well. What is the terrain like there?

BEREBICHEZ: Correct. It's not only the terrain, so you have the Indian tectonic plate sort of pushing up wards to the northeast -- euro-Asia plate. It causes the Himalayas Mountains to go off a bit.

PEREIRA: It actually forms the Himalayas.

BEREBICHEZ: Correct, which interesting. At the same time, this fracture, two plates are thrusting against each other. They move about 45 millimeters every year. They are constantly pushing on each other. At one point this happens in that region every 75 years or so, the thrust is so hard that the Indian plates are pushed too much and the energy gets released.

PEREIRA: And what is so, they're saying that it essentially moved the city of Kathmandu by something like 10 miles.

BEREBICHEZ: You mean, correct. Yes.

PEREIRA: That's insane.

BEREBICHEZ: It's incredible.

PEREIRA: My goodness. Here's the other thing that you were talking to me about this particular region. The area where there fault line is, you say this is particularly problematic because of?

BEREBICHEZ: There is a highway that's built very near the fault lines, so where people tend to live is near that fault line. PEREIRA: Thus the high casualty rate.

BEREBICHEZ: Correct, and also, we have to understand in physics we call resonance. When the frequency of oscillations in an earthquake tend to match the frequencies that are natural to that terrain and what happened is, for example, I grew up in Mexico City and the earthquake there was devastating.

The natural frequency only served selected buildings from six to 15 stories high and those were the ones that were damaged. But at least that were lower or higher than that were not damaged as much and this terrain tended to oscillate in the natural frequency that devastated all those low stories.

PEREIRA: Finally, with you, we have about 30 seconds left. Each earthquake has its own personality because of how it reacts, the building and the codes around it. Is there somewhere we will see this earthquake devastation potentially again around the world?

BEREBICHEZ: It's a great question. We have the U.S. Geological Survey Institution researching and a lot of other scientists trying to figure out and getting better and better at predicting earthquakes, forecasting with probabilities the only thing we can do at the moment.

PEREIRA: The is no contending with Mother Nature. Deborah Berebichez, what a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for being here and walking us through the science -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: No question, Mich. I mean, we have to understand what happened here, but the human catastrophe on that ground. We are just starting to see the effects of that.

There is no question also that this is the worst earthquake in nearly a century. The need today, tomorrow, next week, for months to come is going to be great. We will tell you how you can help.

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[07:53:15]

CUOMO: It is time now for CNN Money now. We have chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, in the money center. Christine, Nepal affecting so many different aspects of life, what are the early estimates of the damage?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, on a personal scale you can't even put a price tag on it, but there's going to need a lot of international financial help to rebuild the economy and infrastructure of this country.

Today, right now, this morning, the three priorities are shelter first, then first aid, and then telecommunications to get in there so they can start to talk to each other then comes reconstruction. Total cost could top $5 billion according to research firm IHS.

That's 20 percent of the country's GDP, its economic output. That's a huge share. Early estimate, in my experience, early estimates like this often go much, much higher.

Now one of the reasons the damage was so devastating, the standard of housing construction very low, the annual GDP per capita, about $1,000, just $1,000. Most families live in poverty.

Tourism is one driver of the economy, foreign climbers pay up to $100,000 each to climb Mt. Everest, but a series of accidents and now this, this signature landmark of the country's economy, many people say in jeopardy -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Christine, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Just terrible, Christine, thank you for that update. We will go back live to Nepal for the latest on the rescue efforts that are under way at this hour. The death toll now tops 3,800 including an American Google executive. We'll talk with his friends about the special way in which he lived his life.

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[07:58:42]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Untold devastation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Road infrastructures have been totally wiped out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many people at this stage still remain missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like the ground's shaking even if it's not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This used to be a three story pagoda-style temple.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are all people who are simply put too afraid to go back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst this country has seen in generations.

CUOMO: You went there as a journalist, but you were first and foremost a doctor.

GUPTA: This has become a hospital because there have been such tremendous demands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hospitals don't have any shelter for the patients.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, April 27th, 8:00 in the east. Nepal is in crisis, 3800 people now dead, millions at risk, a 7.9 earthquake to blame triggering massive landslides and a deadly avalanche on Mt. Everest. There an unknown number of climbers are still in need of rescue.

CAMEROTA: And powerful aftershocks are making it impossible for rescue teams to reach thousands of stranded villagers who may be buried alive.