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Rescues Continue After Devastating Nepal Earthquake; Centuries- Old Historical Temples in Ruins; Nepali Americans to Send Help; Remembering Dan Fredinburg. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We've got this breaking disaster covered the only way CNN can starting with chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He is live from a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he has just performed brain surgery on a young earthquake survivor.

[08:00:04] Sanjay, tell us about what's happened there today.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's a tremendous amount of demand, as you might imagine, for care here. And it's part of the reason they asked me if I would help. Obviously I said yes, would be happy to help.

But they have patients who have been injured by just rubble that has fallen on them, causing fractures, causing head injuries, causing what is known as compartment syndrome, where they have to perform operations even in the field very quickly.

The building here behind me, you know, they're bringing patients in still. There's waves of patients that have been coming over the last several hours, back and forth. I want to give you an idea of what has happened really over the last 24 to 48 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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): Now two days after the earthquake we still get an idea of just how busy things are. We're at the busiest hospital in this particular area. Emergency vehicles keep coming in. You have patients either being rescued, finally found, finally making their way through the traffic and 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, she's 8 years old. She just got here by ambulance. This is pretty typical, what we're seeing here. She was outside getting some water when the earthquake occurred. (INAUDIBLE). 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 Mt. Everest.

(EXPLETIVES DEELTED)

Watch as climbers on the world's tallest mountain become engulfed in the monstrous cloud of falling snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You all right?

GUPTA: Helicopters rushing to evacuate the severely injured.

ANNOUNCER: This is an earthquake.

GUPTA: As survivors began to contact their loved ones.

GREG STUMLER, PARENT OF AVALANCHE SURVIVOR: It's just good to see that she's alive after something so big.

GUPTA: Many more were not so lucky. The wife of a California documentary filmmaker on assignment on Mt. Everest received the heartbreaking news via satellite film.

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 DharaharaTower, a landmark tourist attraction, completely destroyed. At least 50 bodies pulled from its ruins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (on camera): You know, it's hard to tell just how long this is going to last. We've been hearing from Ivan Watson and Arwa Damon that there's obviously these rescue missions still going on. And so many of those people are being brought back here so they've got to figure out how to match up the demand with the supply here, both in terms of personnel and resources, because right now the demand is higher than that supply. And as a result, a lot of patients are still coming to the hospital, many of them being forced to wait outside before they can even get any care.

CAMEROTA: The demand sure looks overwhelming there. I know that they're happy and thankful that you are there today, Sanjay. We will check back with you. Thank you for that.

So as you just saw in Sanjay's report, that earthquake that shook Nepal also triggered that deadly avalanche at Mt. Everest, captured on this spine-tingling video. It killed at least 17 people while leaving many stranded on the mountain.

Our coverage continues in Kathmandu with CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in Kathmandu's main park that has been turned into this makeshift tent city. These are all people that are quite simply, at this stage, too scared to go back home. They're afraid of the aftershocks. And having -- given what this country has already been through, no one wants to risk that at this stage.

Throughout the city, rescue operations are still under way, as they are throughout the entire country. A significant avalanche was triggered on Mt. Everest that killed so far at least 17 people. More perhaps could be dead. Many more are trapped.

While we were on our way here this morning, at the airport, we met a helicopter pilot who was on his way to Everest, and he was describing just how difficult the conditions were in trying to rescue people from what's known as Camps 1 and 2 and get them down to base camp because the avalanche, because of the damage that was done to what is already a treacherous part of the trail.

[08:05:08] The only option is to remove -- get people out by helicopter. But flying up until today has been very difficult because of the weather. Back to you.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Arwa, thank you very much. Some perspective. The powerful earthquake will make it days before all can be rescued, weeks until those lost are recovered, months until life is even close to normal. And many of Nepal's priceless icons are probably gone forever.

CNN international correspondent Sumnima Udas joins us with that part of the story. Sumnima is a Nepalese native. Sumnima.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're at Basantapur Durbar square, which is the center of Kathmandu, really the main tourist destination here where every tourist first arrives 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 spades, 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.

This used to be a three story pagoda-style temple, dedicated to the Hindu god of preservation, Lord Vishnu. Right next -- this is dating back to the 15th Century. Adjacent to that, also in complete ruin, are 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 ruin.

People are just, you know, 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 this 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We know that hits her hard personally, being from that area. Sumnima, thank you so much for that.

So Nepal is now facing major and dire humanitarian needs. International aid is starting now to pour in. Let's get the latest from senior international correspondent Ivan Watson, who joins us from Kathmandu. Ivan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Emergency workers here are doing the difficult, dirty, urgent work of digging through the rubble of what was the tallest building in this neighborhood, a building that was literally knocked over, crushing vehicles, and resulting in the deaths of dozens of people.

Tragically, there was a church here where there was a prayer service in session on Saturday when the earth began to shake. So most of at least 28 people killed were churchgoers in prayer when they were trapped inside. Now, some of the personal effects of these people being brought over and piled up in a sad pile here. There's a guitar behind these Nepalese police officers, a Bible on top of this pile.

Now, there are examples of international assistance coming. The gentlemen here in orange are part of natural disaster teams that have come in from India. As for the people, well, nobody is going into their homes right now. Though most of the buildings in this neighborhood are still standing, many of them have dangerous-looking cracks and people quite literally saying they're too traumatized after the earthquake, too frightened by the aftershocks, to dare to go inside. So they are sleeping and resting out into the streets. Shops, schools, closed here.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Ivan, we can see that with all of the people lining the streets there behind you. Thank you for that.

We want to bring back Dr. Sanjay Gupta; he's live in Kathmandu. And Sanjay, we understand that you just had a very brief talk with the president of Nepal. He hasn't made any other official statement yet. What did he say?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I got a chance to basically ask him what -- did he think Nepal was able to take care of all the injured? And as you mentioned he hasn't spoken to the media as of yet. He's a doctor himself, interestingly, and he said basically that this is a calamity. It's a tragedy the likes of which he had not seen. And that it was difficult to take care of all these patients, so he welcomed international assistance and was thankful for it.

That was basically what he said. He was surrounded by many, many military personnel, personal security. They moved him along quickly. I think he's trying to get an idea, as much as he can, being out here, of exactly how much Kathmandu has suffered, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, just even in the short time we've been on the air, the death toll has climbed.

[08:10:01] Was he able to give you any sense of the numbers of the death toll, or even of the missing, at this hour?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting, because we're seeing so many patients that are being brought in here. It's grim work certainly at times because the doctors have to basically right away declare if someone is alive or dead. And that's the first thing they do and it's grim.

So, it's hard to give numbers here. I think even the doctors, even the people who are reporting all of this, are reluctant to give the numbers. But yes, they have gone up. We know just yesterday outside on the street just over to the side here, they were literally putting dead bodies out here after the doctors and nurses were declaring these people dead.

So I don't know the numbers. They are expected to go up. And I will tell you there was a little bit of a lull in terms of activity for some time. And I think what the doctors told me was they thought maybe the worst was over. But what was really happening at that time was that there was more rescue missions going further and further out. And over hours, they were bringing those patients back in to some of these central hospitals. So, that is ongoing, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sanjay, we will check back in with you throughout the rest of the program to see what happens at that hospital. Thank you so much for all of that.

We want to bring in now a Nepalese community leader who's been helping organize efforts in New York. Tara Niraula is with us now. Tara, thank you so much for being here. Have you been able to make contact with your loved ones back in Nepal yet?

TARA NIRAULA, NEPALESE COMMUNITY LEADER: First of all, thank you, CNN, for this opportunity. Initially, there was a great deal of difficulty in contacting our loved ones in Nepal. Finally, in the last two days, we have been able to contact a few of our relatives, but not all of them. Many of our community members are still finding very difficult to reach out to their loved ones and many of them don't know whether they're still alive or dead.

CAMEROTA: That's so heartbreaking. NIRAULA: It's really, really painful.

CAMEROTA: Because obviously the communications are down, and Kathmandu is maybe easier than obviously the remote villages.

NIRAULA: Kathmandu is definitely easier than the villages. Villages have no communications. If there were any communications, those are dead. We can't get through. But gradually, and slowly, people are starting to get some information. But particularly outside of Kathmandu, it has been very difficult.

CAMEROTA: You held a candlelight vigil in Queens, New York, this weekend, for loved ones of victims. And I was stunned to hear how many people turned out at this.

NIRAULA: Yes. Yesterday and day before yesterday, the community folks came out in numbers, thousands, to really pray for the country and the people. You know, to express their sincere condolence and sympathies to those who have lost their loved ones. And it was really a very somber moment for all of us. It is not only Nepalese, you know, all South Asians, Americans, everybody came together to really show the solidarity with the people of Nepal.

CAMEROTA: We've been hearing from Dr. Sanjay Gupta all morning about just how ill-equipped hospitals are there to deal with the influx of patients that they're getting. And we've also just been hearing about the infrastructure and how bad it is there. What can you and loved ones here in the U.S. do to help at home?

NIRAULA: What we're going to do here from the United States is that, first of all, there are about approximately 200,000 Nepalese in the United States.

CAMEROTA: Is that right? 200,000?

NIRAULA: Yes, about 40,000 to 50,000 alone in the New York Tri-State area. So what we are trying to do is to really -- I mean, this event has touched everyone. We are pained. So first of all, our first priority is to raise funds. Money. That's the most important thing. And we are doing that. Every Nepali community organization, every person in the United States, is working on that. Under the auspices of Non-Resident Nepali Association National Coordination Council of the USA.

So first thing is to raise money and send money immediately to Nepal. Secondly we're also exploring the possibilities of sending the Nepali American doctors and nurses, because I think that's one of the area, as you mentioned earlier, is in dire need. Nepal's hospitals are not well equipped, not prepared for this kind of, you know, disaster. So that's one thing we are trying to do.

The third thing we are trying to do is to send goods -- medicines and nonperishable items. Because that's, you know, another thing that we need to do.

CAMEROTA: And if you're viewers want to know how to help, they can go to CNN.com because the Nepalese need so much help. Tara Niraula, thanks so much. Do you have a website that you want me to alert them to do?

NIRAULA: Yes, if anyone wants to help Nepal, and I think we should all, because as human beings, they can go to www.nrnnccusa.org and we have set up a Paypal account.

[08:15:08] CAMEROTA: Good. I will tweet out that address for you. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

NIRAULA: You're welcome. Thank you, CNN, for doing this wonderful work because this has been the once source of information for us, and we appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Oh, good. We're happy to hear that. Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. In other news, Alisyn, Freddie Gray is being laid to rest today in Baltimore. Family and friends turned out Sunday to pay respects at a wake for the man who died in police custody after suffering a severe spinal injury. Nearly three dozen people were arrested when a protest turned violent on Saturday. Baltimore police say they plan to finish their investigation into Gray's death by week's end.

PEREIRA: The gunman in the Aurora movie theater massacre is finally on trial. Opening statements in the case against James Holmes are set to begin later today. He is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others during a midnight movie almost three years ago. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted of the most serious charges, he could face the death penalty.

CAMEROTA: One of two gay hotel owners who hosted an event for Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz now says he's sorry. Ian Reisner issued an apology to the LGBT community on the Facebook page that calls for a boycott of his properties, saying he showed, quote, "poor judgment" hosting Cruz. Cruz is famously anti- same-sex marriage.

Well, among those who lost their lives in the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal was a Google executive, Dan Fredinburg. We will speak with some of his close friends about his life.

CUOMO: And Bruce Jenner. He broke records as an Olympian and almost broke the Internet when he announced he's becoming a woman. Everybody is talking about this but in very different ways. Does Jenner represent positive or negative change? We test it. You decide. Ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:31] PEREIRA: An avalanche on Mt. Everest triggered by that deadly earthquake in Nepal killing at least 17 people, including Google executive Dan Fredinburg. Fredinburg was an avid climber and an adventurist. Today, he's being remembered by his friends and family. And in fact, we're joined by three of those close friends of Dan.

Let me introduce you to Max Goldstein on the far end, Miki Agrawal in the middle, and Alex Abelin beside me here.

First of all, I am so terrifically sorry for your loss. And I can see the grief on each of your faces. How are you all doing?

ALEX ABELIN, FRIEND OF DAN FREDINBURG: We're hanging in. We're hanging in. It's been a tough couple of days.

PEREIRA: How did you find out, Miki, of the news?

MIKI AGRAWAL, FRIEND OF DAN FREDINBURG: I actually was on my way to Grand Central Tech to give a talk and I was in a cab, and my boyfriend called me and told me. And I couldn't walk in. I was -- I canceled and I immediately went straight to Alex's house.

PEREIRA: That's not the kind of news anybody ever expects to get. How do you process that? And I can tell that you're still processing it right now, Max.

MAX GOLDSTEIN, GOOGLE COLLEAGUE OF DAN FREDEINBURG: I mean, when, you know, when he -- this is his third trip to Mt. Everest. We always knew something like this would be a possibility. We threw him a really big party before he left. But you just, especially with Dan, you just don't assume -- you just assume he'd be able to get out of it. He'd be able to figure this out. He'd be able to overcome.

PEREIRA: I want to show -- and I hope you don't mind me doing this. I understand you guys are really close-knit group of people, and what you had done was you had each written a handwritten note for him to take along on the trip, which I think is extraordinary.

AGRAWAL: 80 people.

PEREIRA: 80 people wrote handwritten notes.

AGRAWAL: And he was to open one every single day to keep him going. And he was on cloud nine knowing that we'd all --

PEREIRA: What a beautiful thing to do.

ABELIN: So many people loved him.

AGRAWAL: So many people loved him.

ABELIN: An extraordinary number of amazing people were so infatuated by him.

PEREIRA: He sounds like a really special guy. And I want to read a couple of these notes. I think this is the one, Miki, you wrote. "You exist always as though it's your last day on earth. And not only is it thoroughly entertaining, it's truly inspiring. P.S. Come back in one piece. Come back at all costs."

Max. "I love you, brother, please return safely with stories. And even if you don't, we will all be horrified, saddened, and heartbroken that we can't create new stories with you, but we'll also know that you've already lived the equivalent of 100 lifetimes."

He kind of lived on different terms, didn't he?

ABELIN: He was 33. But he loved 33 lives. I mean, w talk about this. He lived as boldly as any human being we'll ever know. Not just as we know today, but as we'll ever know. He was as big and as bright and as bold as any human being.

PEREIRA: And, Max, you think that's why the magic of him? The way you all talk, we all feel that way about the people we know, but there was a little something extra, it seems, about this guy.

GOLDSTEIN: I mean, he was boundless. Most of the rules that we operate under as humans, he would just completely ignore, but in the process make everyone love him. And just inject so much joy and everything going on in the world around him. And there are thousands of people around the world who are remembering Dan, and I would just encourage everyone go online, go on social media, just learn about him. We're just going to be so motivated to tell his story.

PEREIRA: But to that end, Miki, so here's the thing -- when we have these friends, often they do, they have hobbies and interests that are different from our own. And this, you know, rarefied air this fellow was living in, this kind of adventurous, risk taking spirit, but you knew and you even mention it, Max, about this. You know if you're going to climb Mt. Everest, there's a high degree of risk involved. Did he talk about it? Did he acknowledge that you, as his friends, kind of didn't love that part of his adventurous spirit?

AGRAWAL: You couldn't stop him. I mean, he didn't even take a beat. You know, last year, when he went to Mt. Everest and everyone died except for him and a few others, because of the big avalanche last year --

PEREIRA: Yes, we covered it here.

AGRAWAL: He went back without blinking an eye. And he just -- I'm going, like, it was not an option. That's just the kind of guy he was. But you look at just every bit of his life. He fit in to so many different communities. He fit into the climbing community; he fit into the Summit Series community. The tech community. (INAUDIBLE) community. Every type of community, he not only fit in but he was a captain in every one of them.

PEREIRA: How's the family doing?

ABELIN: They're doing OK. They're hanging -- you know, this is a devastating time. We've had a humongous loss that we all share. But we're united. You know, the amount of people coming together to celebrate Dan. Dan's about celebration.

[08:25:01] Dan would want us to celebrate. Dan would want us to dance and party and smile and celebrate him. So the family is trying to keep some of that with them. PEREIRA: And I suppose there's a small measure, I mean, a very tiny

measure, of something, that comfort, perhaps, Max, that comes in knowing that he went doing what he loved so very much.

GOLDSTEIN: Yes. I mean, absolutely. I think, you know, he always was doing things he loved. But I think he just had such a special connection with Mt. Everest. As I said, this was his third trip. He deserved to be on top of the world and to summit it. And unfortunately, he wasn't able to do it. But, you know, his spirit will obviously always live on being on top of the world.

PEREIRA: We understand he wasn't alone when he went, that some of his other Google team mates were there. And that, I know, can give you great comfort.

We also know that you want to make sure that people know about some efforts that you're doing to make sure that help gets to Kathmandu and to Nepal.

GOLDSTEIN: Yes, there's a group of us and crowdrise.com/celebratingdan; we're raising money. I think we're almost at $30,000 in maybe 36 hours. And, you know, we're raising money. All donations are going to orphanages that Dan actually had a personal connection with in Nepal. They're completely destroyed.

AGRAWAL: And actually it's on the ground, they're actually -- the money's being put to work as we speak, and saving lives as we speak.

PEREIRA: That's fantastic. That's something that should probably give you all a little bit of comfort and hope as well, to know that there's a lot of effort going into on the ground. Thank you all, Max, Miki and Alex. Thank you so much for being here. Our condolences. I know this is a very heavy time. Thank you for being bold enough to come and talk to us about your friend.

AGRAWAL: We want to celebrate Dan.

ABELIN: Thanks for having us.

PEREIRA: Our pleasure.

CUOMO: We remember and celebrate those who were lost, and we keep our focus on those who are still fighting for life. We're going to go back to Dr. Sanjay Gupta at a hospital in Kathmandu. He is helping the survivors there in Nepal and he's going to tell you the latest.

We'll also talk about the ripple effect of Bruce Jenner's groundbreaking interview. Will his acknowledgment that he's transgender help or hurt the LGBT movement? Ahead.

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